JUAN BENITO ROSALES
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Fla. 3d DCA | 2024-07-31
No. 2023-1857
Cruz, J., Emas, J., Lindsey, J., Gordo, J.
2024 FL 9231 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2024)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Holding

The use or administration of marijuana in a vehicle is excluded from the definition of 'medical use' under Florida Statute § 381.986(1)(k)(5)(f), and the smell of marijuana emanating from a vehicle provides probable cause for a traffic stop regardless of the possibility that the driver might be a medical marijuana user.

Headnotes

[1] The use or administration of marijuana in a vehicle is excluded from the definition of 'medical use' under Florida Statute § 381.986(1)(k)(5)(f), and the smell of marijua…

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Key Quotes

“[E]ven if smoking marijuana were legal altogether, the officers would have had probable cause based on the fact that Johnson was operating a car . . . [T]he possibility that a driver might be a medical-marijuana user would not automatically defeat probable cause . . . Here, we cannot say that it would be unreasonable for an officer to conclude there is a fair probability that someone driving around . . . smelling of marijuana, is acting unlawfully.”

Citation to Johnson v. State, 275 So. 3d 800, 802 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019), supporting the court's reasoning on probable cause in vehicle-based marijuana cases.
Facts & Procedural History

Juan Benito Rosales was charged with a marijuana-related offense. The case involved the question of whether the smell of marijuana in a vehicle could …

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Opinion of the Court
Gordo

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed July 31, 2024. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D23-1857 Lower Tribunal Nos. F22-12545 ________________

Juan Benito Rosales, Appellant,

vs.

The State of Florida, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Laura Shearon Cruz, Judge.

Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Susan S. Lerner, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Richard L. Polin, Chief Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before EMAS, LINDSEY and GORDO, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Footnotes
2 Affirmed. See § 381.986(1)(k)(5)(f) (excluding from “medical use” the “[u]se or administration of marijuana in . . . a school bus, a vehicle, an aircraft, or a motorboat, except for low-THC cannabis not in a form for smoking”) (emphasis added); Johnson v. State, 275 So. 3d 800, 802 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019) (“[E]ven if smoking marijuana were legal altogether, the officers would have had probable cause based on the fact that Johnson was operating a car . . . [T]he possibility that a driver might be a medicalmarijuana user would not automatically defeat probable cause . . . Here, we cannot say that it would be unreasonable for an officer to conclude there is a fair probability that someone driving around . . . smelling of marijuana, is acting unlawfully. And this is true whether or not Florida law allows the medical use of marijuana in some circumstances.”).

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