Lewis v. State, 233 A.3d 86

In 2014 Maryland decriminalized possession of less than ten grams of marijuana, making it a civil offense rather than a crime.
On Feb. 1, 2017, police responding to a tip observed Rasherd Lewis enter a convenience store (Bag Mart); officers detected an odor of marijuana in the store and an officer smelled marijuana coming from Lewis as he walked past.
Officer Burch stopped Lewis, officers handcuffed him, and a subsequent search of Lewis and his bag produced a handgun, a small sealed baggie of marijuana (<10g), empty baggies, and cash.
Lewis moved to suppress the seized items; the suppression court and the Court of Special Appeals upheld the search (relying in part on Robinson), but the Court of Appeals reversed.
The central legal question: whether the odor of marijuana alone supplies probable cause to arrest and conduct a search incident to arrest of a person given that possession under ten grams is a civil offense.

Issue	Lewis' Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the odor of marijuana on a person, alone, gives probable cause to arrest and search that person.	Odor alone is insufficient; officers must have probable cause that the person possesses a criminal amount (≥10g).	Odor indicates contraband and supplies probable cause to arrest and search; Robinson supports relying on odor.	The odor of marijuana, without more, does not provide probable cause to arrest and search a person; police must have probable cause to believe the person possesses a criminal amount.
Whether Lewis’ claim that he was seized before the officer smelled marijuana was preserved for appeal.	Officers seized Lewis before the odor-based justification arose, so the search was fruit of an unlawful seizure.	This timing argument was not raised at the suppression hearing and therefore was not preserved.	The timing/seizure argument was not preserved and is waived; the Court did not consider it.

Pacheco v. State, 465 Md. 311 (2019) (distinguishes automobile searches from searches of persons; odor alone did not supply probable cause to arrest/search person)
Robinson v. State, 451 Md. 94 (2017) (odor of marijuana provides probable cause to search a vehicle)
Norman v. State, 452 Md. 373 (2017) (addressed stop-and-frisk issues when odor of marijuana is present)
Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752 (1969) (search-incident-to-arrest rule)
Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132 (1925) (automobile exception to the warrant requirement)
Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366 (2003) (probable cause standard for arrest of persons in possession of contraband)
Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266 (2000) (reliability requirement for anonymous tips)