Juan Benito Rosales v. The State of Florida

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: July 31, 2024
• Docket: 2023-1857
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed July 31, 2024. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D23-1857 Lower Tribunal Nos. F22-12545 ________________

Juan Benito Rosales, Appellant,

vs.

The State of Florida, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Laura Shearon Cruz, Judge.

Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Susan S. Lerner, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Richard L. Polin, Chief Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before EMAS, LINDSEY and GORDO, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See § 381.986(1)(k)(5)(f) (excluding from “medical use” the

“[u]se or administration of marijuana in . . . a school bus, a vehicle, an

aircraft, or a motorboat, except for low-THC cannabis not in a form for

smoking”) (emphasis added); Johnson v. State, 275 So. 3d 800, 802 (Fla.

1st DCA 2019) (“[E]ven if smoking marijuana were legal altogether, the

officers would have had probable cause based on the fact that Johnson was

operating a car . . . [T]he possibility that a driver might be a medical-

marijuana user would not automatically defeat probable cause . . . Here, we

cannot say that it would be unreasonable for an officer to conclude there is

a fair probability that someone driving around . . . smelling of marijuana, is

acting unlawfully. And this is true whether or not Florida law allows the

medical use of marijuana in some circumstances.”).