United States v. Mitchell, Brian, 3:22-cr-00036

On Dec. 22, 2021 Trooper Williams stopped Brian Mitchell for speeding on I-94; Williams says he smelled raw marijuana as he approached Mitchell’s closed truck.
Williams asked about marijuana; Mitchell denied it and declined to step out; Williams opened the driver’s door, saw a handgun with a drum magazine on the floorboard, and seized it.
After Mitchell briefly fled and was later arrested, officers searched the truck and found large quantities of drugs; only trace amounts of marijuana were ultimately identified.
Trooper Williams’ patrol dash-cam contains no recording of the initial encounter; Trooper Danny Daniels later reported finding a small sealed bag of marijuana in a cup holder but did not seize or document it contemporaneously.
The magistrate judge found Williams’ claim he smelled marijuana incredible given the tiny undiscovered amounts, cold/windy conditions, inconsistencies in Williams’ statements, lack of corroboration, and poor evidence preservation.
Recommendation: grant Mitchell’s motion to suppress because the government failed to prove probable cause for the vehicle search that led to seizure of the firearm.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Probable cause to search based on odor of raw marijuana	Williams smelled raw marijuana wafting from the truck, which gave probable cause to search	Williams did not actually smell marijuana; odor claim unsupported by evidence	Court: odor claim not credible; no probable cause for search
Authority to open door / detain beyond traffic stop	Once odor was present, Williams could detain and search the vehicle	Opening the door and detaining exceeded the scope of a speeding stop absent probable cause	Court: encounter exceeded routine stop and was not justified by probable cause
Credibility and corroboration of officer testimony	Training and consistent statements support Williams’ account	Contradictions, missing dash-cam footage, failure to seize/document marijuana, and Daniels’ testimony undermine credibility	Court: Williams’ testimony was incredible and unpersuasive
Appropriate remedy for Fourth Amendment violation	Government: search was lawful if probable cause shown	Mitchell: suppression required because search lacked probable cause	Court: suppression recommended; exclusionary rule applies

United States v. Cole, 21 F.4th 421 (7th Cir. 2021) (traffic-stop scope limits)
United States v. Ochoa-Lopez, 31 F.4th 1024 (7th Cir. 2022) (vehicle searches require probable cause)
United States v. Shaffers, 22 F.4th 655 (7th Cir. 2022) (smell of marijuana can supply probable cause)
United States v. Franklin, 547 F.3d 726 (7th Cir. 2008) (same: marijuana odor as probable cause)
United States v. Olson, 41 F.4th 792 (7th Cir. 2022) (assessing officer credibility and effects of stress)
United States v. Rebolledo-Delgadillo, 820 F.3d 870 (7th Cir. 2016) (no spoliation inference absent evidence of intentional destruction)
Guzman v. City of Chicago, 565 F.3d 393 (7th Cir. 2009) (discussion of the exclusionary rule)
United States v. Davis, 44 F.4th 685 (7th Cir. 2022) (exclusionary rule remains binding)