United States v. Johnson

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO SUPPRESS FRUITS OF WARRANT-LESS SEARCH

INTRODUCTION

In this criminal action, defendant is charged with being a felon in possession of *883 body armor among other offenses. Defendant moves to suppress the fruits of a warrantless search of his person and subsequent search of his vehicle. For the reasons stated below, defendant’s motion is Denied.

FINDINGS OF FACT

At 10:18 a.m. on August 7, 2015, Sergeant Clint Simmont of the East Palo Alto Police department stopped a black BMW sedan for failing to stop at a stop sign before making a turn. The driver of that vehicle was defendant Lamar Johnson, and there were no other occupants.

When Sergeant Simmont approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and began speaking to Johnson, he smelled “a combination of both burnt and fresh” marijuana, to which he had “a great deal of exposure” through his work on patrol in East Palo Alto and as a special agent with the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force (Tr. at 6, 13). Johnson provided his driver’s license to Sergeant Simmont, and Sergeant Simmont radioed in Johnson’s information.

Via his computer-aided dispatch system (“CAD”), Sergeant Simmont learned that Johnson…