In the Matter of J.B.P., __ N.C.App. ___
Facts: law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance on a home suspected to be involved in distribution of controlled substances. An officer testified that he smelled what he perceived to be the odor of marijuana as he drove past a car parked in front of the house. Later, the juvenile drove the vehicle away and the officer conducted a traffic stop. The officer testified he smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle as he approached and that he smelled the odor of marijuana on the juvenile when he stepped out of the car. Based on the odor, the officer searched the car and seized marijuana, a digital scale, and a handgun. The juvenile filed a motion to suppress the seized evidence alleging that the odor alone was not sufficient to establish probable cause. The trial court took notice of a 2019 memo issued by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) that stated that an officer’s sight or smell of marijuana alone is not sufficient to establish probable cause because marijuana is indistinguishable from hemp. The trial court granted the motion to suppress and dismissed the charges, finding that the officer did not have probable cause to believe that there was marijuana rather than legal hemp in the car. The State appealed.
Opinion:
The smell of marijuana was sufficient to establish probable cause to search the juvenile’s vehicle
Relying on the holding in State v Reel, ___ N.C.App. ____, 910 S.E.2d 307 (2024), the court held that the officer’s identification of the odor as marijuana was sufficient to establish probable cause because the officer had special narcotics training and extensive field experience in identifying marijuana based on odor and physical appearance. When an officer has this training and experience, their belief that they smell marijuana is sufficient to establish a reasonable probability that there is marijuana in the car, justifying a warrantless search of the vehicle. The trial court erred in granting the motion to suppress and in dismissing the charges.