no warrant

Appeals Court Snuffs Out Warrantless Marijuana Search

The SF Gate has a new story about a Pacifica, CA man who had his case overturned, due to a warrantless search of his home in 2005. Here's a snip:
Over the objections of John Hua, who lived at the apartment, police entered and found two marijuana cigarettes in the living room, 46 marijuana plants in a bedroom and an illegal cane sword on a bookshelf, the court said. After a San Mateo County judge upheld the search, Hua pleaded no contest to cultivating marijuana and possession of the cane sword and served a 60-day jail sentence, his lawyer said.

In defense of the search, prosecutors argued that police had reason to believe there was more than an ounce of marijuana elsewhere in the apartment - enough to subject Hua to a possible one-year jail sentence - and that Hua or others might be committing felonies by handing marijuana cigarettes to each other.
Sorry officer, just because you smell Marijuana doesn't mean you can bust in, guns blazin'. Who polices the police? The judge!