Legal Question in DUI Law in New Jersey
legal searches
A car was parked in a county park in the evening. A
police officer approached the car and when the window
was rolled down, thought he smelled marijuana. He
asked for permission to search the car and received
it. He found no evidence of any drugs. He then
''patted down'' the teenagers in the car and found a
pipe and trace amounts of marijuana. How much
searching is legal? If there was no evidence in the
car, can the police legally search your person with
only the suspicion of the odor?
1 Answer from Attorneys
legal searches
"Suspicion of odor" does not constitute adequate grounds for a non-consensual search. Actual odor does. When the case comes to court, I can assure you that the officer's testimony will be that there was actual odor, and the judge will pretend to believe him. In other words, a motion to suppress the evidence on the grounds that it was obtained illegally will probably fail. Other defenses may exist. ALSO it may be advisable for your lawyer to make the suppression motion anyway. Even though its likelihood of success is small, the defense obtains other advantages by having made the motion.
Good luck.
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