State v. Fewell

Hill, J.:

In this appeal we must answer the question whether it is permissible for a trooper, who smelled the odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside the passenger compartment of a car, to search the driver of a car stopped for speeding. Under the facts of this case — where the odor is of burnt marijuana and the driver admitted the passenger in the car had just smoked some marijuana, the trooper was alone at the scene, and any evidence could have easily been destroyed — we hold that there was probable cause to search the driver and exigent circumstances supported the warrantless search.…