The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in the final days of 2021, that “the odor of marijuana alone does not amount to probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle.” This is “heady” stuff, no pun intended. The manner in which the trial court, and ultimately the Supreme Court, reached a decision in Commonwealth v. Barr, 28 WPA 2021, is interesting indeed.

In the fall of 2018, the appellant, Timothy Barr, was the occupant of a car pulled over by the Pennsylvania State Police in Allentown, Pennsylvania. As the troopers approached the car they smelled an odor of marijuana. The troopers used the odor of marijuana as probable cause to search the vehicle.