| 05 January 2012
Parrish Alford reported a statement released from Oxford Police Chief Michael Martin:
“Nelson was arrested after officers responded to Lafayette Place Apartments in reference to the smell of marijuana coming from an apartment,” Martin said.
Nelson was then found to be in possession of cigarillos - cigars hollowed out for the purpose of smoking weed.
So now we know how the police department arrived at Nelson's apartment. It sounds like they were responding to a call and they didn't have a warrant. It sounds like a good Motion to Suppress - a motion filed when someone's 4th Amendment rights have been violated that when won, results in the suppression of the illegally obtained evidence. Unfortunately, it's pretty rare to win those because the officer in a search case is usually smart enough to testify he had permission to enter. The smell of marijuana would not give the police permission to enter an apartment, but you can bet the responding officers will testify that Nelson or some other occupant of the apartment opened the door. The officers smelled the marijuana and noticed suspicious activity inside the apartment so they requested permission to enter the apartment. No matter what the person at the door actually said, the police officer will testify that the person at the door said, "Sure! C'mon in! Can we fix you something to drink?" That's what usually happens in cases like these. If the judge believes the officers entered with permission, there is no illegal search issue.
The cigarillos were probably in an ashtray on the coffee table in front of a couch just inside the door.
I predict Nelson pleads guilty and gets a fine.
The bigger question is what is Kennedy going to do to his players for messing around like this the week of a very important conference opener against LSU? I guess we'll find out soon enough. Maybe even this afternoon.
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