Wilson v. State (Ct. of Special Appeals)

Filed May 2, 2007--Opinion by Judge James Kenney.

During a traffic stop, the trunk of a vehicle driven by Wilson was found to contain a suitcase packed with six and one-half pounds of marijuana. Wilson was found guilty in a bench trial of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Prior to trial, Wilson moved to suppress evidence of the marijuana recovered from the trunk, and the denial of that motion is the subject of this appeal. The Court rewrote the presented question as follows: Does the odor of burnt marijuana emanating from the passenger compartment of a vehicle, by itself, establish probable cause to search the vehicle's trunk under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment?

In considering a denial of a motion to suppress, the Court is limited to the record of the suppression hearing. Further, the appellate court will accept the version of the evidence most favorable to the prevailing party. As a question of law, the Court reviews de novo whether appellant's motion to suppress was properly denied.

The Fourth Amendment ordinarily requires that a warrant be secured prior to conducting a search. An exception to the warrant requirement is the "automobile exception," known as the "Carroll Doctrine." If a car is readily mobile and probable cause exists to believe it contains contraband, the Fourth Amendment . . . permits police to search the vehicle without more. This Court has held that the odor of burnt marijuana, alone, affords probable cause to search the passenger compartment of a vehicle under the automobile exception. Further, many of the cases applying the Carroll doctrine have found probable cause to search the trunk of a motor vehicle based on evidence apparent to a police officer after a lawful search of the passenger compartment of the vehicle. However, in this case, the search of the passenger compartment produced no additional evidence of the presence of marijuana in the vehicle. Wilson contends that, under the circumstances, any probable cause to search the passenger compartment of a vehicle based solely on the odor of burnt marijuana would not extend to the vehicle's trunk.

The Court reasoned that marijuana and other illegal drugs, by their very nature, can be stored almost anywhere within a vehicle. The location-specific principle that "probable cause must be tailored to specific compartments and containers within an automobile" does not apply when officers have only probable cause to believe that contraband is located somewhere within the vehicle, rather than in a specific compartment or container within the vehicle. The odor of burnt marijuana emanating from a vehicle provides probable cause to believe that additional marijuana is present elsewhere in the vehicle. To adopt Wilson's argument, the trunk or any other area outside of the passenger compartment would become a safe harbor for the transportation of drugs for both users and traffickers. Judgment Affirmed.


The full opinion is available in PDF.