“Weed Crumbs” Scattered on a Car’s Rear Floorboard do not Constitute Probable Cause of a Cal. Health & Safety Code 11362.3 Violation.”

 

Sellers v. Superior Court (Cal. Supremes, 01/29/2026)

 

Sellers was a passenger in a motorcar.  The police pulled the car over after the driver failed to come to a complete stop at a crosswalk.  Three cops approached the car, shined flashlights inside the car and began grilling Sellers and the driver.  A records check revealed nothing of concern.

One cop saw a rolling tray on the backseat and “weed crumbs,” on the rear floor.  The cops then described the driver as sweating and nervous.  They ordered the two out and searched the car.  An unregistered pistol was found near where Seller’s had been sitting.

Sellers was charged with unlawful possession of a gun.  He moved to suppress the evidence of the gun on the basis the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights.  The trial court denied Seller’s motion on the basis the “weed crumbs” constituted probable cause of a violation of  H&S §11362.3(a)(4) which prohibits the possession of marijuana that is “not in a closed package or container,” while driving or riding in a car.  Sellers appealed.

A split panel of the Third District affirmed, finding the crumbs were contraband being illegally transported as they were not in a “closed package or container.”  The Third hedged by alternately finding that even if the crumbs were not contraband, the driver’s nervousness, along with the rolling tray, constituted probable cause.  The dissenting judge analogized the weed crumbs to a small amount of beer spilled on a floorboard from a broken, (near) empty beer bottle.  Seller petitioned for review and the Cal Supremes granted same.

The Supremes reverse and remand.  The unanimous Court largely adopts the reasoning of the Third District judge’s dissent while adding its own gloss with a review of similar cases.  In re Randy C. (2024) 101 C.A.5^th 933 (a blunt on the passenger’s lap is an “open container”); P v. Hall (2020) 57 C.A.5^th 946 (loose marijuana on center console not a violation absent a “useable amount); P v. Thomas (1966) 246 C.A.2d 104 (fragments of marijuana in a shirt pocket not illegal).

In the end, the Cal Supremes hold that a violation of H&S §11362.3(a)(4) requires, at a minimum, marijuana be of a usable quantity, in a usable condition, and readily accessible to an occupant.  In this case, the crumbs were not in a useable condition nor were they readily accessible to Sellers.  The driver “nervousness,” falls on deaf judicial ears, as the Court quotes the trial court, “[t]here officers who are armed approaching a car would make most people nervous.” 

Seller’s Fourth Amendment rights having been violated, the case is remanded for a determination of the proper remedy.