California Supreme Court Rules on Marijuana in Vehicles: No Probable Cause for Search Based on Debris and Nervous Behavior

By Robert Phillips, Deputy District Attorney (Ret)

• H&S Code § 11362.3(a)(4) and Closed Containers of Marijuana in a Vehicle: 
• Marijuana Debris in a Vehicle and Probable Cause to Search for More: 
• A Vehicle Occupant’s Nervousness and Probable Cause

Rule: H&S Code § 11362.3(a)(4), allowing for the lawful transportation of 28.5 grams or less of marijuana in a vehicle so long as contained in a closed container, does not apply when there is no container at all, closed or not. The apparent nervousness of a vehicle’s driver, even when combined with a plain sight observation of a small amount of marijuana debris and some possible marijuana paraphernalia (e.g., a rolling tray), does not, by itself, establish probable cause to search that vehicle.   

Summary: Officers stopped a vehicle for a simple traffic violation. Defendant was a passenger in the car. Observing a marijuana rolling tray on the back seat and ....