Folk v. Maryland

Corporal Carl R. Harbaugh from the Maryland State Police Department operated in an unmarked vehicle in civilian clothing while he conducted a surveillance of a red Valiant automobile on Frederick city. Approximately fifteen minutes to twenty minutes later, Harbaugh and another State Trooper, who joined him, approached the red Valiant automobile when it was parked in a secluded, abandoned baseball diamond. The vehicle’s lights and motor were off and the windows were slightly closed. When Harbaugh was approaching the vehicle, the left front window was lowered, and Harbaugh was able to detect a strong odor of marihuana. At that time, all of the occupants in the vehicle were ordered to exit the vehicle. One occupant, who exited from the right side of the vehicle, tried to throw something onto the grass nearby. The object was immediately recovered and found to be a plastic container containing marihuana. Appellant, Lillie Mae Folk, was one of the six occupants in the vehicle. The officers never found any evidence that she had directly possess the marihuana, but the evidence did indicate that some person or persons in the vehicle had possession of the marihuana.