People v. Weaver, 2 N.E.3d 621

Trooper Veryzer stopped Harold Weaver for speeding on I-80; after a warning, he asked to search the car's interior and was initially consented to that limited search.
During the interior search, Veryzer (who had narcotics interdiction training and experience) testified he detected a faint odor of raw cannabis from the rear-seat area.
After detecting the odor, Veryzer arrested Weaver and searched the trunk, recovering duffel bags containing about 28 pounds of cannabis packaged with dryer sheets.
Weaver moved to suppress the trunk evidence, arguing the ‘‘faint odor’’ was insufficient under the plain-smell doctrine to establish probable cause.
The trial court credited the officer’s training-based identification of the faint raw-cannabis odor and denied suppression; Weaver then entered a stipulated bench trial (described as tantamount to a guilty plea), was found guilty, and sentenced to 12 years.
On appeal Weaver challenged the suppression ruling; the appellate court addressed (1) whether Rule 604(d) barred the appeal and (2) whether the faint odor supplied probable cause to search the trunk.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a stipulated bench trial tantamount to a guilty plea requires compliance with Ill. S. Ct. R. 604(d) before appealing	State: Rule 604(d) applies to guilty pleas; defendant’s stipulation equated to a guilty plea, so Rule 604(d) prerequisites apply	Weaver: He preserved suppression claim via stipulated bench trial and did not need to file a Rule 604(d) motion	Court: Stipulated bench trial tantamount to a guilty plea is not the same as a guilty plea for Rule 604(d); appeal not barred
Whether officer’s detection of a ‘‘faint odor’’ of raw cannabis provided probable cause to search the trunk	State: Officer’s trained, experienced detection of cannabis odor (even faint) supplies probable cause under Stout	Weaver: A faint odor is insufficient under the plain-smell rule to justify extending the search to the trunk	Court: Credited officer’s training and testimony; faint odor coupled with experience was sufficient probable cause under Stout

People v. Stout, 106 Ill.2d 77 (1985) (trained officer’s detection of marijuana odor can establish probable cause without independent corroboration)
Horton v. People, 143 Ill.2d 11 (1991) (distinguishes types of stipulated bench trials and when they are tantamount to guilty pleas)
People v. Clendenin, 238 Ill.2d 302 (2010) (stated tests for when a stipulated bench trial is tantamount to a guilty plea)
People v. Wilk, 124 Ill.2d 93 (1988) (purpose of Rule 604(d) is to allow trial court to address out-of-record claims; explains limited need for withdrawal motion when record preserves issue)
People v. Flowers, 208 Ill.2d 291 (2003) (compliance with Rule 604(d) is a jurisdictional condition when appealing from an actual guilty plea)