Memo: IPG 51 (MJ CAR SEARCHES & NONCUSTODIAL SEARCHES OF PERSONS CITED FOR H&S 11550 VIOLATIONS)

This edition of the Inquisitive Prosecutors Guide discusses:

(i) when officers have probable cause to search vehicles based on the odor or presence of
marijuana in light of the all the most recent published and unpublished case law and Proposition
64 (which legalized possession and use of marijuana under certain circumstances) and

(ii) when (or if) officers can search a person for evidence of drug use based on probable cause to
believe the person is under the influence of unlawful drugs even when the officer is not going to
make a custodial arrest.

We begin on pp. 2-8 providing the basic principles derived from the post-Prop 64 case law,
followed by: (i) a discussion of the general law governing the vehicle search exception (at pp. 8-9);
(ii) case law pre-dating the passage of Prop 64 bearing on the question of when the automobile
exception permits searches of vehicles based on evidence of marijuana possession (at pp.9-12);
(iii) relevant Prop 64 statutes (at pp. 13-15); (iv) a broader review of all the new cases (discussed
in chronological order) bearing on the question of when the automobile exception permits
searches of vehicles based on evidence of marijuana possession(at pp. 15-33); and (iv) a checklist
of questions to ask the officer(s) conducting the search of the vehicle (at pp. 34).