Sacramento, CA: Police may neither charge a motorist with violating California’s “open container law” nor search a person’s vehicle solely upon the identification of a small quantity of marijuana “crumbs” on the floorboards, according to a ruling handed down by the state’s Supreme Court.
In a unanimous opinion, the Justices determined that the state’s “open container” law should not be applied so broadly as to pertain to situations where police find “any loose marijuana” in a motor vehicle. Rather, the court decided that the marijuana “must be of a usable quantity, in imminently usable condition, and readily accessible to an occupant” to constitute a violation of the state’s “open container” law.
The Court further determined that a police officer’s identification of “weed crumbs” does not provide probable cause for a warrantless vehicle search. They ruled, “The marijuana-related conduct here – possession of the rolling tray on the backseat and the crumbs on the floor [totaling 0.36 grams] – was lawful and alone was insufficient to find probable cause of a violation of California’s controlled substances law.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling reverses the decision of the California Court of Appeals, which had previously granted police the authority to search the defendant’s vehicle based upon a finding of probable cause.
The case is Sellers v. The Superior Court of Sacramento County.