The presence of a useable quantity of marijuana among a defendant’s property in the passenger compartment of a vehicle he was driving provided sufficient probable cause to search the vehicle’s trunk. The United States Supreme Court has held that if probable cause justifies the search of a lawfully stopped vehicle, it justifies the search of every part of the vehicle. (United States v. Ross (1982) 456 U.S. 798.) Therefore, the rulings of contrary California cases, although not expressly repudiated, have no continued vitality. It is reasonably probable that a person who has a useable quantity of marijuana in his day planner may stash additional quantities for future use in his trunk. Therefore, probable cause existed to search the trunk, and the suppression motion was correctly denied.
Case Summaries