“A prosecutor described MPD’s explanations as sometimes ‘cringey,’ and gave the example of an officer claiming to have smelled marijuana in a car that was going 60 miles per hour.”
By Marc Perrusquia and Micaela Watts, The Institute for Public Service Reporting Memphis
Memphis simmered in the July heat as a police cruiser pulled over a blue Nissan Altima motoring through the downtown business district. The car’s temporary tag had expired days earlier, an oversight police often resolve by issuing a citation.
But this traffic stop took a more serious turn when a Memphis Police Department (MPD) officer said he “could smell an odor consistent with marijuana coming out of the vehicle.’’
After questioning a female passenger, police found slightly more than a half-ounce of marijuana in her purse—a small but critical amount that led officers to arrest the family-focused grandmother on a felony drug-trafficking charge.
As a special task force begins reviewing U.S. Justice Department claims of abuse by MPD during traffic stops, reform advocates say the woman’s arrest is yet another example of overly aggressive policing in Memphis.
“It’s absolutely a trumped-up charge,” said Claiborne Ferguson, a longtime Memphis defense attorney who reviewed the July 2, 2024, police
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