Background
Officers stopped a vehicle for a suspended driver’s license. During the stop, an officer smelled marijuana and saw drug paraphernalia. A second officer frisked a passenger, Jermaine Derrick Carson, Jr., and found a loaded handgun. Carson was charged with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the stop was prolonged and the frisk lacked reasonable suspicion.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the traffic stop and frisk under the Fourth Amendment. It determined that the stop was not unconstitutionally prolonged because an officer developed independent reasonable suspicion of criminal activity by smelling marijuana before any alleged investigative detours occurred. Regarding the frisk, the court applied the rule from United States v. Sakyi, holding that reasonable suspicion of illegal drugs in a vehicle justifies a frisk for weapons to ensure officer safety.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the Fourth Circuit’s precedent that the smell of marijuana alone can justify extending a traffic stop and frisking occupants for weapons, despite evolving state laws regarding marijuana.