NASHUA, N.H.—Police have dropped drug possession charges against a Merrimack (New Hampshire) man after a judge ruled that a police search that turned up marijuana was illegal.
Superior Court Judge William Groff ruled police did not have enough reason to search 28-year-old Shawn Proulx's apartment. He said the 3 pounds of marijuana they found cannot be used as evidence.
Police originally went to Proulx's apartment to arrest him on a fugitive charge. But when an officer smelled what he identified as fresh marijuana and saw a scale he believed was being used to weigh pot, police got a search warrant.
The judge said that in an affidavit for the warrant, police did not show that the officer had the expertise or qualifications to detect the odor of fresh marijuana. The officer has more than 20 years of experience, but the affidavit did not mention it.
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Information from: The Telegraph, http://www.nashuatelegraph.com
