State v. Earl

DURHAM, Justice:

This is an interlocutory appeal by the State of Utah from an order granting defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of thirty-three pounds of marijuana discovered during a routine inventory search of the trunk of a rented car driven by defendant. We reverse.

On May 4, 1984, Trooper Paul V. Mangel-son of the Utah Highway Patrol observed a motor vehicle approximately one hundred fifty feet off of temporary 1-15 in an area that floods frequently. The officer became suspicious because the driver, defendant Darren D. Earl, had his shirt off and paid close attention to the officer as…