[420 Girl]

FOLLOW UP:Two North Georgia state troopers won't have to pass the smell test.

In an order issued this week, a Gordon County judge denied a defendant's motion that sought to determine the olfactory prowess of state troopers Jeff Adamson and Kevin Turner.

The motion was filed on behalf of Jarmane Vernon Knox, of Chattanooga, who was arrested in November 1996, after a traffic stop along I-75. Adamson and Turner both said they smelled "raw marijuana" coming from within Knox's car, so they conducted a search and found almost three pounds of pot inside a white trash bag in the trunk.

Knox's lawyer, David West of Marietta, filed a motion questioning whether the two Georgia State Patrol troopers could really smell the pot when standing outside the car. His motion sought to have the marijuana put back inside a similar trash bag and placed in the trunk of a random car in the courthouse parking lot.

The troopers would then be asked to prove they can really smell as well as a trained, certified drug dog can, the motion said. The motion sought to have the marijuana evidence suppressed for being obtained through an illegal search.

But Gordon County Superior Court Judge Shepherd L. Howell denied the motion, allowing the case to proceed to trial.

On Friday, West expressed disappointment with the decision.

"I'm shocked and dismayed the judge did not even give us an opportunity to be heard and just made a ruling," West said. "It's a totally appropriate thing that I'm requesting."

West said he is filing another motion, asking Howell to allow him to pursue the issue in a pre-trial appeal before the Georgia Court of Appeals or Georgia Supreme Court.

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