I have discussed the “power” of smell to overcome all Fourth Amendment rights, before (i.e. here.) However, there is an officer in Kansas with a true superpower of smell. As reported locally,
A divided Kansas Supreme Court affirmed Lawrence Hubbard’s misdemeanor convictions in a case demonstrating police officers relying exclusively on olfactory skills to detect raw marijuana can supply probable cause to support search of a residence.
In this case per the Supreme Court of Kansas, the fresh marijuana which officers claimed to smell from the front door was found in a “locked safe in a closet in Hubbard’s room…inside a Tupperware container.”
These cases are nearly impossible to defend because how can a court objectively determine the veracity of the probable cause. The court has nothing to judge the reasonableness of the warrantless search.
