Minnesota Supreme Court denies State’s petition for review in State v. Dawson

The Minnesota Supreme Court denied the State’s petition for review in State v. Dawson, A24-0573. While the Minnesota Court of Appeals’ opinion is not precedential, the decision is still important because the court determined that the smell of marijuana alone did not give law enforcement reasonable suspicion to seize Mr. Dawson. This seems to be an expansion from the Minnesota Supreme Court’s holding in State v. Torgerson, 995 N.W.2d 164 (Minn. 2023) where the supreme court concluded that the smell of marijuana alone did not prove law enforcement with probable cause to search a vehicle under the automobile exception. Dawson is a good reference if law enforcement seized a client based only on the odor of marijuana.