The Wisconsin Supreme Court says a car smelling like marijuana is enough for police to justify searching a single person in the vehicle. The court's conservative majority ruled 4-3 on Tuesday against Quaheem Moore, who was pulled over in 2019 and searched by police after they smelled marijuana in his car. Officers arrested Moore after finding cocaine and illegal opioids in his pocket, but never charged him with marijuana possession. The court's three liberal justices argued that officers did not have enough evidence to conduct a search. The liberal justices also said police could not determine that the odor was marijuana, since the scent of CBD, a legal substance, is indistinguishable.
Probable cause is a formality. A box to check to avoid appeals.
If he didn’t “smell” marijuana, he would have “smelled” alcohol, or he would have claimed “erratic driving”, or he would have summoned a K9 unit which would have alerted on command.
100% this. A box to check to avoid appeals.