A recent ruling from the Commonwealth Court overturning a Monroe County judge’s decision, which allowed the state to seize $15,000 hidden in a rental car, makes one thing clear: Just because something might smell like drug activity, doesn’t make it so.
A three-judge panel decided the totality of circumstances in Commonwealth v. $15,000 U.S. Currency — drug records for both the car’s driver and its passenger, a positive canine and ion scan of the cash, inconsistent testimony and the “overwhelming smell of marijuana” emanating from the money — did not establish a nexus between the money and illegal activity.
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