POLICE OFFICER'S REASONS FOR STOP HELD "INCREDIBLE"
An offficer's testimony that he smelled burnt marijuana when he stopped the defendants, and could also read the label of a prescription bottle from outside the car was found just not credible. Nothing corroborated it at all. United States v. Shields, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92929 (W.D. Tenn. December 18, 2007):
The Government asserted that probable cause to arrest the Defendants and, therefore, to search their persons, existed at the time the officer detected the marijuana smell coming out of the window and when he observed the prescription bottle bearing the name of another.
However, the Court found the officer's testimony with respect to the marijuana smell and the identification on the prescription bottle in Shields' lap was not credible. It is uncontroverted that there was no objective evidence, such as rolling papers, roach clips or blunts, to indicate that Defendants had been smoking marijuana in the vehicle. Nor was there any evidence presented at the hearing to suggest that a small amount of marijuana in a sandwich bag hidden in a pants pocket, or a few small stems and seeds, would exude sufficient odor to cause the "quick gush" of the smell described by the officer to emanate from the two-inch crack in the window. See United States v. Mercadel, 75 F.App'x 983 at *5 (5th Cir. 2003) (failure of police to find any evidence of recently smoked marijuana supported court's conclusion that officer's testimony that he smelled marijuana was not credible).
