dorm

What is the name of your state? Texas

I attend a University in Texas and last night I was watching a movie in my friends dorm, when my friend's room mate came in with his friends and started smoking weed out of a vaporizer. They didnt think it could smell, and it really didnt that bad, when someone knocked on the door. The room mate opened it and saw it was a cop and tried to shut the door. The cop then stuck his foot in the door saying that he had the right to come in because he could smell burnt weed outside the door, which he couldnt since many other people had walked by and would have said something if it smelled and then he read us all our rights(the door was hardly cracked and the cop couldnt see into the room). He then told us that if we didn't give consent to search the room he would just sit and wait for a warrant in the middle of the room. After that another cop brought something to test the vaporizer for weed, and it came out positive. The cop then scraped out the burnt ashes out of it and took it as evidence. Now my he is being charged with possesion of marijiuana, and paraphernalia because he had a bong, grider, and papers. We asked the police office numorous times to leave and come back with a warrant. I was wondering if all this was legal, and if it is what made him able to just walk right in the room. I realize that its illegal to smoke it, esp. in a dorm room, but it just seemed like that guy got screwed how the cop just kinda busted in.

Aslo the POM charge is for .1 of a gram thats all that was found in the room.

Reasonable suspicion. The smell of MJ was coming from your dorm room; sorry, but that's pretty damning in itself. Also, check the contracts you signed for use of the dorm. They aren't like apartments or homes; if anybody of authority wishes to come inside, you let them. You're right that they don't have the right to immediately start snooping through the room without that warrant (which really wouldn't have taken him all that long to obtain), but he would be allowed to just sit in the room and not allow anybody to leave to ensure that nobody tried to stash the goods somewhere. So, what the cop did was legal and your friend was caught with an illegal substance.

Yes the Officer acted on His training. If you people were smoking MJ in the Dorm room as you say then rest assured, The officer could smell the Pundgent Smell of the MJ smoke. Thus. resonable suspision or P.C...You pick Probable cause....More apt then not that a crime is being commited........So The Officer smelling the MJ and could most likely see the smoke in addition when the door was opened. Not only that but, I would consider myself lucky you were not charged with frequenting or any other charge. I would also as the previous responder had indicated....(these are Dorms unlike a residence). I would be curious to see what the agreement reads.I would think your reasonable expectation of privacy would differ anyway.Not Advice. For What it's Worth. Patrolman/J. Buckner

When you let the cop in the room, then the following search was good.

But, I will be the first to admit that this is an unsettled area of the law.

http://www.law2.byu.edu/jel/v2002_1/Christman.htm