TOMMY ALTON LEGGETT
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Tommy Alton Leggett challenges the search of his backpack, which yielded a firearm and controlled substances, arguing that the odor of marijuana alone cannot justify a warrantless search under recent precedent. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal affirms the conviction, holding that the deputy's reliance on binding precedent at the time of the search falls within the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule.
Although the odor of cannabis alone can no longer be the sole basis for reasonable suspicion under recent precedent (Baxter v. State), the evidence is not subject to exclusion because the deputy reasonably relied on binding precedent existing at the time of the arrest, bringing the search within the good-faith exception.
[1] The odor of marijuana alone does not provide probable cause for a warrantless search.
[2] A search conducted in reasonable reliance on binding precedent at the time of the arrest is permissible under the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the smell of marijuana by itself no longer provides probable cause for a warrantless search”
Establishes the new legal rule that marijuana odor alone cannot justify warrantless search, following Baxter v. State
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn December 20, 2022, a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office deputy stopped an Uber vehicle for running a stop sign. Leggett was a backseat passenger. The de…
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November 8, 2024 HARRIS, J. On December 20, 2022, a deputy with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office stopped an Uber vehicle for running a stop sign. Leggett was the backseat passenger in that vehicle. As the deputy approached the vehicle, he noted a strong odor of marijuana coming through an open window. Based solely on that odor, the deputy searched a backpack found next to Leggett, which contained a firearm and significant amounts of several controlled substances. Leggett moved to suppress all of the evidence found in the backpack, arguing that the smell of marijuana by itself no longer provides probable cause for a warrantless search. The court denied the dispositive motion, accepted Leggett’s guilty plea and sentenced him to 30 years in prison as a habitual felony offender. On appeal, Leggett relies heavily on this court’s recent opinion in Baxter v. State,1 where we concluded that the odor of cannabis alone can no longer “be the sole basis supporting reasonable suspicion for an investigatory detention.” 389 So. 3d 803, 813 (Fla. 5th DCA 2024). While Leggett’s reliance in this appeal on Baxter is reasonable, the caveat in Baxter remains true here—because the deputy “reasonably relied on binding precedent at the time of the arrest,” this search “comes within the good-faith exception and is not properly subject to the exclusionary rule.” Davis v. United States, 564 U.S. 229, 249 (2011).
AFFIRMED. EDWARDS, C.J., and WALLIS, JJ., concur.
_____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.