Case: People v. Armstrong

This criminal case involved whether evidence of a crime obtained only because of detention based on the smell of marijuana can be admitted as evidence in a criminal trial.

On October 8, 2020, law enforcement officers approached a parked car because they smelled marijuana, which had been legalized in Michigan. They spoke with both occupants and instructed the defendant out, then conducted a search and found a gun under the front passenger's seat. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. 

On August 23, 2021, the defendant, who was represented by Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit, moved to suppress the gun as the fruit of a search that violated the Fourth Amendment. On February 8, 2022, the trial court granted the defendant's motion to suppress the evidence and dismissed the case. In its opinion, the trial court found that the defendant's encounter with the law enforcement officers was a seizure, requiring the officers to have probable cause before ordering the defendant out of the Jeep and arresting him, and that the smell of marijuana did not constitute probable cause. 

On November 22, 2022, following an appeal from the prosecutor, the Court of Appeals of Michigan affirmed the decisions of the trial court, finding that the trial court did not clearly err. The prosecutor sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Michigan.

On April 2, 2025, the Supreme Court of Michigan affirmed. The court found that,  in light of the MRTMA which legalized marijuana, the smell of marijuana alone was no longer sufficient to support a finding of probable cause that a crime was being committed. This reversed the Kazmierczak rule.