North Carolina Federal Marijuana Probable Cause Seizure Lawyers Attorneys

North Carolina Federal Marijuana Probable Cause Seizure Lawyers Attorneys

by

Atchuthan Sriskandarajah

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. STAHLE LINN, III, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

June 10, 1994, Argued

August 3, 1994, Decided

Facts:

Stahle Linn, III was indicted for possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. After his motion to suppress was denied by the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C.S. 841(1)(a). He now appeals the denial of his motion to suppress, arguing that when law enforcement officers seized him they lacked probable cause to search his airplane, vehicle, or any of his personal belongings.

Issue:

Whether the trial court erred in denying defendant s

motion to suppress

because officers lacked probable cause to conduct the challenged searches?

Discussion

The Court held that though officers had an arrest warrant with them, because they had not executed it at the time of the search, it could not be used to support the search. The automobile exception was not applicable because the totality of the circumstances failed to show probable cause for the search. In declaring that probable cause was missing, the court noted that the majority of facts relied on by the government in its claim of probable cause concerned criminal history that was over 15 years old and, thus, of no relevance to the probable cause determination. suppression motion. Accordingly the court reversed the judgment of the lower court, which had convicted defendant of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. The case was remanded to the lower court for further proceedings.

Disclaimer:These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm s unofficial views of the Justices opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content

Atchuthan Sriskandarajah is a Virginia lawyer and owner of the SRIS Law Group. The SRIS Law Group has offices in Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York,

North Carolina

& California. The firm handles criminal/traffic defense, family law, immigration & bankruptcy cases.

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