Bennett v. State

Tom Glaze, Justice.

This case concerns the Fourth Amendment and specifically whether an officer’s smelling of a legal substance is sufficient in itself to show probable cause for a search warrant or to justify a good-faith exception for a warrant’s issuance. Appellant Lisa Bennett brings this appeal after entering her conditional plea of guilty to a reduced charge of attempt to manufacture a controlled substance.

The search at issue ensued on October 28, 1998. At 1:30 a.m., Bradford Police Officer Steve Strayhorn was driving along State Highway 367 in White County when he passed a storage…