Police did a trash pull at the defendant's home and located small amounts of marijuana. The police swore in an affidavit that they knew of drug trafficking activity by the defendant and provided details of the trash pull. The search warrant was issued and the police found evidence of drug trafficking in the home.
A motion to suppress was filed and the trial court held that the police lied about being aware of drug trafficking activity involving the defendant, but still held that the trash pull marijuana evidence alone was sufficient to support a finding of probable cause for the warrant.
In an important victory for federal criminal defendants, the Sixth Circuit held that the trash pull was insufficient without further evidence to support probable cause to search the house. The Court held that the "small quantity of marijuana" found in the trash was too logically attenuated from the house to create a fair probability that there were more drugs in the residence. The Court emphasized that it was impossible to tell if the drugs had ever been in the residence, and if so, how recently. The Court also held that because the police lied in the affidavit, the government could not rely on the good faith exception to the warrant requirement.
This case exemplifies why defendants charged in federal court should hire experienced federal criminal defense attorneys in marijuana and all other drug cases.
