California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Pierson v. Superior Court, 8 Cal.App.3d 510, 87 Cal.Rptr. 433 (Cal. App. 1970):
In People v. Nichols, 1 Cal.App.3d 173, 81 Cal.Rptr. 481, the officer knocked and defendant opened the door; the officer smelled an odor of marijuana smoke. The court stated (pp. 175--176, 81 Cal.Rptr. p. 482): 'The odor of marijuana justified the officer's belief that marijuana was in the house. * * * The fact that defendant opened the door and acknowledged that he lived there supported the belief that he was jointly or constructively in possession of any narcotics which were inside. * * * Courts have recognized that it is reasonable for an officer to infer that the person in apparent possession [8 Cal.App.3d 524] of a dwelling place is in possession of the narcotics found there, even though that possession may be shared with someone else. (See, e.g., People v. White, Supra, 71 A.C. at p. 86, 75 Cal.Rptr. 208, 450 P.2d 600.) The drawing of such an inference by the investigating officer, and by the court which receives the evidence, raises no constitutional issue.'
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