Morgan Lee Broussard v. State, 434 S.W.3d 828

Two Houston officers patrolling a high narcotics area smelled marijuana and saw Broussard smoking in a car.
They detained Broussard, he dropped a plastic bag containing a white substance; baggie seized.
They also seized a cigar believed to contain marijuana; lab later found the baggie to contain cocaine and the cigar non-marijuana, possibly synthetic cannabis.
Broussard was charged with possession of less than one gram of cocaine; he moved to suppress the cocaine evidence.
Trial court denied suppression; Broussard was convicted after a jury trial; enhanced by two prior felonies; sentence two years.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court properly denied suppression	Broussard	State	Denied; suppression upheld
Whether the court should have instructed 38.23 on exclusion of illegally obtained evidence	Broussard	State	Denied; instruction not required
Whether the trial court erred by sustaining relevancy objections to scent questions	Broussard	State	Harmless error; did not affect verdict

Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) (standard for suppression factual findings and law application)
Wiede v. State, 214 S.W.3d 17 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (deference to trial court credibility findings; law-to-fact review)
State v. Ross, 32 S.W.3d 853 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (implied findings of fact when none written)
Crain v. State, 315 S.W.3d 43 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (investigative detention requires reasonable suspicion)
Parker v. State, 206 S.W.3d 593 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (smell of marijuana from a car as probable cause to search)
Madden v. State, 242 S.W.3d 504 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (38.23(a) instruction requirements and disputed fact issues)
Tillman v. State, 376 S.W.3d 188 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2012) (non-constitutional error harmless where impact is minimal)
Tollett v. State, 422 S.W.3d 886 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2014) (preference for addressing disputed facts; not always relevant)