Illinois Supreme Court rules that the smell of weed is not sufficient reason to search a vehicle | Legal

Simply smelling burnt hashish does not give a police officer the proper to conduct a warrantless search of an vehicle, the Illinois State Supreme Court dominated on Thursday. 

Citing vital adjustments in Illinois marijuana legal guidelines, Justice P. Scott Neville Jr. wrote that an Illinois state police officer who pulled over a Chicago man on Interstate 80 did not have possible trigger to search the automotive primarily based solely on the truth that he smelled weed. The possibility was unanimous, with Justice Lisa Holder White not collaborating. 

On Sept. 15, 2020, state police officer Hayden Combs stopped Ryan Redmond on Interstate 80 in Henry County for an improperly secured license plate. Redmond, returning to Chicago after visiting buddies in Des Moines, was additionally touring 73 miles per hour, three miles per hour over the restrict.

According to earlier court docket testimony, Officer Combs smelled burnt hashish when Redmond rolled down the window. Combs then searched the automotive and located one gram of marijuana in the middle console in a plastic bag.

Redmond was charged with illegal possession of marijuana by a driver. 

However, Redmond claimed that the smell of hashish did not give the officer possible trigger to search the vehicle. Lower courts agreed, ruling that a search primarily based solely on the smell of weed was unjustified, citing current adjustments making hashish authorized.

Combs testified that Redmond confirmed no indicators of impairment, and there was no proof of hashish burning inside the automotive.

Combs testified that he searched the automotive as a result of there was an odor of burnt hashish, Redmond gave evasive solutions, Interstate 80 was “a known drug corridor,” and Redmond admitted he was driving from Des Moines to Chicago, the place each cities are “hub[s] of criminal activity.”  

The appeals court docket discovered a lack of proof supporting Combs' testimony that Interstate 80 was a recognized drug hall and that Des Moines and Chicago have been hubs of felony exercise. Regardless, each details did not assist Combs's suspicion that Redmond had smoked hashish in the vehicle.  

The state legalized the buy and use of marijuana on Jan. 1, 2020. The legislation made it authorized to possess weed in a automotive if it is secured and inaccessible.

The state had argued that circumstances, together with Combs' detection of the sturdy odor of burnt hashish, made it cheap to suspect that Redmond had smoked hashish in the automotive on his manner from Des Moines to Chicago.

“We hold that the odor of burnt cannabis alone is insufficient to provide probable cause for police officers to perform a warrantless search of a vehicle,” Neville wrote.

“We also hold that the totality of the facts and circumstances known to Officer Combs did not provide probable cause to search Redmond's vehicle.”