Trooper Had Probable Cause to Arrest Both Car Occupants For Cocaine Possession; and Did Not Unreasonably Detain Passenger During Vehicle Search.

State v. Ortega, Minn.S.Ct., 7/30/2009.  Back in August, 2004, a State Trooper stopped a car for speeding and for not displaying a front license plate.  Mr. Ortega was the front passenger in this car.  The trooper thought that the driver, Ms. Sorg, was “overly nervous';” he also observed that the pulse in her neck was visible and that she constantly smoked.  Mr. Ortega made the mistake of looking straight ahead, avoiding looking at the trooper.  Oh, the trooper also smelled a “faint odor of burnt marijuana.”

The trooper checked Ms. Sorg’s license plate and driver’s license, finding nothing amiss.  Nonetheless, he “asked” Ms. Sorg to get out of the car so that the two could chat outside Mr. Ortega’s hearing, apparently about drugs.  Ms. Sorg denied any drug usage in the car but would not answer questions about marijuana.  The trooper then asked for consent to search the car; Ms. Sorg consented.  The trooper had Ms. Sorg stand at the front of the car; he had Mr. Ortega get out of the car.  The trooper frisked Mr. Ortega, who gave him a pocket knife and a small amount of grass; the trooper then had Mr. Ortega join Ms. Sorg at the front of the car.

Did I mention that the trooper had a drug dog with him?  He did; the dog alerted all over the car so the trooper easily enough found a rolled up dollar bill in the center console cup holder, which had residues that field tested positive for cocaine.  The trooper then arrested both Ms. Sorg and Mr. Ortega; during a search of Mr. Ortega, the trooper found another rolled up dollar bill in his pants pocket which also had residues that tested positive for cocaine.

Mr. Ortega moved to suppress the evidence of the rolled up dollar bill that the trooper found in his pants pocket.  The appellate court concludes that the odor of burnt marijuana and the rolled up, cocaine laced dollar bill in the center console provided enough suspicion that Mr. Ortega possessed that dollar bill constructively with Ms. Sorg so that the trooper was justified in arresting them both.  The trooper could then search Mr. Ortega’s pants pockets incident to that arrest.

Mr. Ortega also complained that the trooper unlawfully detained him longer than he should have.  Specifically, he argued that once he gave the trooper the non-criminal amount of marijuana the trooper was required to issue a citation and send him on his way.  Mr. Ortega would then have abandoned Ms. Sorg to her own fate and the trooper would never have found the rolled up, cocaine laced dollar bill in his pants pocket.  The appellate court rejected this complaint, on officer safety grounds.