Court Opinion

ID: 9779706
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 00:37:02.644162+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:38.182561
License: Public Domain

Cowin, J.
(dissenting). The police officers in this case properly approached, for a parking violation, a vehicle in which the defendant was a passenger. On reaching the vehicle, both officers smelled the odor of burnt marijuana. The vehicle was in a high crime area, and the driver and the defendant appeared nervous. The officers ordered the defendant out of the vehicle and he complied. When questioned, the defendant confessed that he had “crack” cocaine on his person.
Until now, our case law has been clear that the odor of burnt marijuana in a vehicle provides probable cause for a warrantless search. See Commonwealth v. Garden, 451 Mass. 43, 47-48 (2008). Today, the court holds the same evidence, even in *478combination with other factors, insufficient to meet not only the probable cause standard but also the lower standard of “reasonable suspicion.” According to the court, the justification for this change is the enactment of G. L. c. 94C, §§ 32L-32N, which decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana. That change in our laws, however, does not affect the conclusions that may reasonably be drawn by police whose sense of smell alerts them to the fact that marijuana is, or recently has been, present.
Consistent with art. 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, a police officer may order a passenger to exit a vehicle when he has “a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity” on the part of that passenger. See Commonwealth v. Bostock, 450 Mass. 616, 621 (2008). Although reasonable suspicion must be based on “specific, articulable facts and inferences that follow from the officer’s experience,” even “[s]eemingly innocent activities taken together can give rise to reasonable suspicion.” Commonwealth v. Grandison, 433 Mass. 135, 139 (2001), quoting Commonwealth v. Watson, 430 Mass. 725, 729 (2000). An officer’s reasonable suspicion justifies an inquiry and, if necessary, an exit order to determine whether probable cause exists to believe that criminal activity has occurred or is occurring.
Even though possession of a small amount of marijuana is now no longer criminal, it may serve as the basis for a reasonable suspicion that activities involving marijuana, that are indeed criminal, are underway. The essence of reasonable suspicion is that it justifies an inquiry that may result in establishing that no offense has occurred, or that one may have occurred, but there is insufficient evidence to proceed to probable cause. An inquiry that does not produce evidence that supports going further does not retroactively render unreasonable a suspicion that was reasonable at the time.
Our case law is clear that “the odor of marijuana is sufficiently distinctive that it alone can supply probable cause to believe that marijuana is nearby.” Commonwealth v. Garden, supra at 48, and cases cited. The advent of decriminalization certainly has had no effect on the distinctiveness of marijuana’s odor.1 Nor has *479decriminalization affected the criminal status of numerous other activities involving marijuana. See G. L. c. 94C, § 32L. Accordingly, the odor of marijuana permits an officer reasonably to suspect that the parties involved are in possession of criminal quantities of marijuana, see G. L. c. 94C, § 34, or are in possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. See G. L. c. 94C, § 32C. In other circumstances, when the suspect party is the individual in the driver’s seat, the odor of burnt marijuana also permits a reasonable suspicion that the individual is operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana in violation of G. L. c. 90, § 24 (1) (a) (l). 2
In this case, the officers’ detection of the odor of marijuana provided a basis for a reasonable suspicion that the individuals in the vehicle might be involved in the commission of a crime. Because that suspicion was reasonable, the officers did not violate the defendant’s rights by inquiring further and by requiring him to exit the vehicle. Accordingly, I dissent.

 Whether the odor is of burnt or fresh marijuana is not meaningful. While *479an odor of burnt marijuana may indicate an offense committed at a somewhat earlier time, reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, or is being, committed is present.

I do not agree with the court’s suggestion that whether the vehicle’s engine is running is relevant. The fact that an individual is sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle is sufficient to permit a reasonable suspicion (not probable cause) that he is operating or will be operating the vehicle.