Robert Dayon Dumas v. United States

On July 11, 2018, Petitioner was charged in federal district court, Tampa, Florida, by Indictment with five counts of Hobbs Act robberies and two counts of use, carry, brandish and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The robbery and firearm charges were spawned from a warrantless search of Petitioner vehicle by a Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy following a traffic stop for speeding on March 11, 2018. The deputy searched the vehicle because the deputy claimed to have detected an odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle. The vehicle search was initially premised upon a search for drugs. During the search the deputy saw items of clothing and a gun that the deputy thought might be related to a robbery that occurred in the area in February of

1. Petitioner’s motion to suppress challenged the initial vehicle search, the arrest for possession of marijuana, the seizing of the very general clothing items and a gun, and all statements made by Petitioner following the stop of his vehicle and warrantless search. The District Court determined Deputy Denbo to be a credible witness in spite of numerous inconsistencies in the evidence and other factors which revealed reasons to question the truthfulness of the deputy. Petitioner’s motion to suppress was denied by the District Court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s ruling. The questions presented to this Court are:

2. Did the district court err in finding no Fourth or Fifth Amendment violation based upon the