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D.Minn.: Defense succeeded in undermining officer's justification for stop and wins suppression

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The USMJ finds that the officer in this case was not credible when he testified that he smelled the strong odor of burnt marijuana when he stopped the defendant’s car. Based on all the factors, analyzed by the court, the content of police reports, the videotape of the stop, and the contemporaneous radio reports, the testimony is just not believable. United States v. Dolson, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110581 (D. Minn. November 25, 2009).* In the overall scheme of things, this case is not citable for any proposition of law, but it is instructive to defense counsel: Each of the aforementioned inconsistencies and mischaracterizations, viewed in isolation, might not undermine Trooper Engum's credibility. Viewed as a whole, however, they demonstrate that Trooper Engum has -- whether deliberately or unintentionally -- shaded the facts surrounding the traffic stop in a way that would make the search and seizure less constitutionally suspect than it in fact was...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 02, 2009 (boomark / email).