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General odor of marijuana around a group of men not RS as to any; defendant's grant and then withdrawal of consent not a factor in RS

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer encountered a group of men standing around, and the odor of burnt marijuana was surrounding them. The officer lacked any reasonable suspicion to patdown the defendant based on the odor alone. The defendant first consented to a search of his person and then withdrew it, and that could not be considered reasonable suspicion. Robinson v. State, 2008 Fla. App. LEXIS 4386 (2d DCA March 28, 2008): We conclude that there was no probable cause to support the warrantless search of Robinson's person which yielded the firearm and the marijuana. The fact that Robinson was standing with a group of men surrounded by the odor of burned marijuana was insufficient to supply more than a "mere suspicion" that Robinson was in possession of marijuana. The fact that Robinson initially consented to a search of his person and then withdrew that consent did not give the officer probable cause to search for marijuana...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 31, 2008 (boomark / email).