Wright-Johnson v. State
The Third DCA affirmed the denial of a motion to suppress a firearm found during a vehicle search predicated on the odor of burnt marijuana, where the defendant argued his medical marijuana card defeated probable cause. Rather than deciding whether the traditional 'plain smell' doctrine survives Florida's medical marijuana laws—an issue on which Florida's district courts are increasingly split—the court held the officer was entitled to rely in good faith on longstanding precedent establishing that the odor of marijuana alone supports probable cause to search a vehicle.
Key facts
- Officer searched defendant's vehicle based on the odor of burnt marijuana and recovered a firearm; defendant possessed a medical marijuana card and moved to suppress the firearm as fruit of an unlawful search.
- Trial court denied the motion to suppress; defendant appealed to the Third District Court of Appeal.
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Why it matters
This opinion is valuable to practitioners litigating suppression motions involving marijuana odor because it expressly documents a growing intra-district conflict in Florida over whether the 'plain smell' doctrine… — full analysis with a trial
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