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IN: Officer's qualification to determine smell of marijuana not shown

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer's qualifications to determine the smell of raw marijuana was not shown, so the search fails. State v. Holley, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 2597 (December 23, 2008). Where the officers did not enter the house, it could not be characterized as a knock and talk. The entry here was to a commercial part of the property. The "no trespassing" sign did not create an expectation that officers would not approach the property. Jones v. State, 2008 Md. LEXIS 628 (December 23, 2008), affg Jones v. State, 178 Md. App. 454, 943 A.2d 1 (2008), posted here. 911 caller gave specific first hand information about a named and identified man with a gun who was threatening two women. The officer arrived and saw a man fitting the description who turned and walked away when he saw the officer...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 30, 2008 (boomark / email).