Opinion ID: 701203
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reconstruction of the Search

Text: 11 Mr. Ruiz argues that the judge erred in not allowing him to recreate the search and demonstrate the impossibility of agent Pena smelling unburnt marijuana under the circumstances he claims. [A] trial court's decision to admit or exclude [demonstrative] evidence will be reversed only if the court abused its discretion. United States v. Wanoskia, 800 F.2d 235, 238 (10th Cir. 1986). This court has recently held that a refusal to allow a marijuana smell test experiment is not an abuse of discretion when the conditions surrounding the stop would have been virtually impossible to reconstruct. See United States v. Greenspan, 26 F.3d 1001, 1008 (10th Cir. 1994). Similarly, we find that the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the experiment based on a concern that the conditions surrounding the stop and the sealing of the compartment would have been impossible to reconstruct.