What constitutes probable cause to get a warrant in California

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BNUTTHEHUT

BNUTTHEHUT

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What do the cops need to get a warrant in California for a suspected grow room?
 
fishwhistle

fishwhistle

4,686
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Good question,I think it depends on each individual judge to make that decision,some are probably alot tougher and require more proof than others.
 
BNUTTHEHUT

BNUTTHEHUT

190
63
Good question,I think it depends on each individual judge to make that decision,some are probably alot tougher and require more proof than others.

I see what you mean. My friends ex lady got busted for jacking someones house( Shes a fucking idiot) So she gives the cops her phone which had textes and photos of his grow. The phone used to be his and he gave it to her. Looking back through my phone, I found one text that mentioned "plants and seeds and a bag of weed" between me and him. Hes worried that hes gonna get rolled. I was just trying to figure out if that was enough for me to move everything.
 
S

swisscheese

Guest
Phone compromised then yeah if you got the money to move do it just to sleep good at night.
 
squarepusher

squarepusher

959
43
aerial surveillance will get a search warrant for outdoor plants in San Diego county
 
squarepusher

squarepusher

959
43
http://www.safeaccesssd.org/2013/03/medical-marijuana-advocates-rally.html

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Medical Marijuana Advocates Rally Around Terminally Ill Medical Marijuana Patient Defendants Today in Vista Court as Prosecutor Admits to Receiving over Sixty Calls From Citizens Requesting Compassion for Defendants

By Terrie Best San Diego Americans for Safe Access Court Support Coordinator

San Diego, CA - Dennis Little, an arthritis sufferer and his wife Deborah Little, who has lived with HIV/AIDS for twenty years and is battling cancer, were in court today - for what was to be a preliminary examination - along with their attorneys Lance Rogers, Charlotte Kornev and expert witness San Diego Americans for Safe Access’ Kim Twolan.

Because Matt Stevens, the detective who oversaw the raid on the Littles’ home, was not available for cross-examination by the defense, the preliminary exam hearing was rescheduled for March 28th, 2013 at 9:00a.m. George Lloyd, the prosecutor in the case, planned to have another officer testify to having read Stevens’ police report but defense counsel opted to reschedule, preferring to question Stevens directly.

Following the reschedule, the Littles, their attorneys and courtroom advocates were greeted outside by Canvass for a Cause activists holding signs of support for the exhausted defendants. Amid the hugging and well wishes, Attorney Lance Rogers responded to questions about the egregious prosecution while Charlotte Kornev cared for a visibly ill and weakened Deborah Little.

In a further effort to help the couple, yesterday Prosecutor George Lloyd was the target of a citizen Stop and Dial in which medical cannabis activist group Canvass for a Cause staffers stopped citizens of San Diego County, talked with them about medical cannabis and provided a cellular phone to dial the prosecutor asking that charges be dropped against the very ill Littles. The Stop and Dial action was extended to San Diego Americans for Safe Access members for participation. While in court today Lloyd acknowledged receiving over sixty calls and voicemails but was unable to say if charges against the Littles would be dropped.

If you would like to call George Lloyd and ask for compassion for the Littles, dial the Vista DA’s Office at 760-806-4004; key 1 for English; key 4 to speak to an operator and ask for George Lloyd.

Here is a polite script:

Hello, I am calling for George Lloyd please?
Hello, Mr. Lloyd, my name is ________________________, I am a resident of San Diego and I’m calling to ask that you drop the charges against Dennis and Deborah Little. Deborah has been an HIV/AIDS patient for 20 years and Dennis suffers from arthritis. Their preliminary hearing is next week, please use your prosecutorial discretion to drop the charges and respect state law!


Both the Littles are medical cannabis patients and they grew their own medicine on their own property in a rural area of San Diego County.

After a prior month’s helicopter surveillance, on October 17, 2012, a small army of cross-sworn agents, led by Deputy Sheriff Matt Stevens, stormed into the Little home and without even bothering to verify patient status, manhandled the fragile Littles, proceeded to interrogate them for hours, then ripped up the plants found on the property. Then, on November 27, 2012, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis filed felony criminal charges against the couple.

Cases like these put patients’ lives at risk. The Littles are too frightened of the DEA and Dumanis’ office to use their cannabis medicine which eases their pain and increases appetite. The couple has asked for community support in their battle. If you are a patient or a patient advocate please consider calling George Lloyd or coming to the Littles’ preliminary examination on March 28 at 9:00 AM beginning in Department 5 of Vista Court at 325 S. Melrose Dr., Vista, CA 92081. The case will be assigned a courtroom which you can learn by asking the Bailiff in Dept. 5.

For more information please contact Terrie Best, San Diego Americans for Safe Access Court Support Coordinator at [email protected].

Other articles on this case:
http://www.safeaccesssd.org/2013/03/terminally-ill-senior-citizen-medical.html
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
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The final answer is -- IT REALLY DEPENDS. It depends on the individual officers, it depends on the DA, it depends on the chief or sheriff, it depends on the department heads, it depends on the mayor and the city council and the county supervisors. It all depends.

Fucking Bonnie Dumanis is STILL SD's DA??? <facepalm> Y'all know we got Pete Wilson from San Diego, right?
 
GR33NL3AF

GR33NL3AF

1,904
263
I'm in CA and have a few buddies in the PD...They know where the majority of the grow rooms are already. Seems like because of the red tape surrounding plant counts and patients/caretakers they try and avoid them, all it takes is a complaint or knowledge of excessive plant counts.
 
Stoner Steve

Stoner Steve

4
3
In my city there is no limit on plant count, yet the state is different. Very confused about the actual numbers so I keep it low anyway. No one I talk to has the same answer. Here is what I can find pertaining to my city.
"No quantity limits are established. Officers will not cite or arrest physicians, primary caregivers, or patients possessing or using marijuana for legitimate medicinal purposes in accordance with 11362.5 H&S. Standards of reasonableness in deciding enforcement issues are similar to those in needle or drug possession cases where a prescription is claimed or in a gun possession case where a permit is claimed. It should be kept in mind that mere oral approval by the physician is all that is necessary to comply with the law. Standards of probable cause for a vehicle search, person search, arrest, or a search warrant request should take into account known facts regarding the permitted uses of marijuana under Proposition 215."
 
Alice D

Alice D

143
63
It's fairly easy for your local law enforcement to obtain a search warrant. Depending on your county & corrupt or money hungry the cops are. They are suppost to have a complaint to start a investigation witch would then require a officer to write up a affidavit. In this affidavit they are suppost to show probable cause witch isn't guess police work or creative hunch ism. It's suppost to be based on facts that who ever is using the residence to commit a felony. If they got your buddies phone & found dirt on it about you this isn't enough for them to obtain a warrant but close. I know first hand but in my situation the same thing happened found some messages on a buddy phone witch led them to investigate me. They went as far to go to my neighbors kids baseball game pull him away in front of everyone,his words to me after I'm raided. "Made me look like a loser in front of everyone what did you want me to do". Still he is not a creditable informant but they worded it they got a complaint from a citizen about a possible grow. Then they had a PG&E worker (that is actually a clerk for PG&E) agree to take a drive with them out to my house where he said he seen what looked like a clamp on bypass of power at the transformer. Then with a couple other little lies like I've been convicted in the past of cultivation & sales they obtain a warrant. Never did I have a bypass of power at the transformer & I hadn't been convicted of these felony's in the past. Long story short I was taken to jail my lady taken to jail ,my dogs taken to jail and violated is a understatement they held us on a 70,000$ bond (We had just harvested days before maybe 4 lbs hanging) just put our new girls in our shop to flower about 2' tall 42 plants total & we were collectively growing with 4 other patients. I shit you guys not they counted old root balls in the yard,each branch that was hanging totaling over 300 plants they said. Besides what was hanging we had 3 jars of medicine maybe 4-5 oz's but had a tote full of leaf. After they weighed our semi wet plants and all our leaf they said 30+lbs & gave me a manufacturing charge for hash that I made. So we post bail hire attorneys & at our preliminary hearing the judge remands us back into custody on a 110,000$ bail said we were a danger to the community. Now I've got well over 50K into bail & some of the best attorneys fighting this & I'm 99% sure all the evidence will be suppressed because of their BS affadavit. Judges don't like to suppress evidence when they think we had what they say we did but when it comes down to it we were way in our limits of the amount of medicine we needed for the conditions we have. It's all about $ to these fucked up cops they go around & get illegal warrants so they can come in and confiscate your $ your home your vehicles all your computers and what ever else they want. My advice & my lawyers advice is if you have a cop knocking on your door go to it & make sure it's locked if it isn't lock it. If they could come in they wouldn't be knocking. Never talk to a cop even when you know your innocent still do not say anything to them except am I free to leave or am I being detained if not I'd like to leave if I am I'd like to envoke my right to remain silent. Talk to my lawyer. If they show up with a warrant call your lawyer immediately & let them know they will have to wait a few minutes until your lawyer arrives to conduct their search usually you will just put your lawyer on speaker phone & don't say another word ever. They have nothing until you give them something to put in their report. I know jail sucks but it will be just for a hour or two until bailed. If you talk to them you could end up doing serious time but if you don't say anything they got nothing to convince a jury your guilty of trumped up charges. Their job is to arrest as many people as they can so they can continue warehousing more & more innocent Americans and have them work for 16 cents a hour. Slave labor in its finest. I'm sure everyone here knows beware of cops they are the most dangerous people in America but most including myself when you know your not doing anything illegal its hard not to stand up for yourself. Bad idea they twist everything around to take your money. Tell them I have been advised of my rights by my lawyer. I choose not to speak to any law enforcement officers. I wish to remain silent. I do not consent to this contact with you. I do not consent to any searches or seizures of myself or my property..... Just saying. Sorry got a little carried away never disliked anyone as much as I do cops. Rude & violating.
 
azmmjadvocates

azmmjadvocates

442
43
http://www.safeaccesssd.org/2013/03/medical-marijuana-advocates-rally.html

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Medical Marijuana Advocates Rally Around Terminally Ill Medical Marijuana Patient Defendants Today in Vista Court as Prosecutor Admits to Receiving over Sixty Calls From Citizens Requesting Compassion for Defendants

By Terrie Best San Diego Americans for Safe Access Court Support Coordinator

San Diego, CA - Dennis Little, an arthritis sufferer and his wife Deborah Little, who has lived with HIV/AIDS for twenty years and is battling cancer, were in court today - for what was to be a preliminary examination - along with their attorneys Lance Rogers, Charlotte Kornev and expert witness San Diego Americans for Safe Access’ Kim Twolan.

Because Matt Stevens, the detective who oversaw the raid on the Littles’ home, was not available for cross-examination by the defense, the preliminary exam hearing was rescheduled for March 28th, 2013 at 9:00a.m. George Lloyd, the prosecutor in the case, planned to have another officer testify to having read Stevens’ police report but defense counsel opted to reschedule, preferring to question Stevens directly.

Following the reschedule, the Littles, their attorneys and courtroom advocates were greeted outside by Canvass for a Cause activists holding signs of support for the exhausted defendants. Amid the hugging and well wishes, Attorney Lance Rogers responded to questions about the egregious prosecution while Charlotte Kornev cared for a visibly ill and weakened Deborah Little.

In a further effort to help the couple, yesterday Prosecutor George Lloyd was the target of a citizen Stop and Dial in which medical cannabis activist group Canvass for a Cause staffers stopped citizens of San Diego County, talked with them about medical cannabis and provided a cellular phone to dial the prosecutor asking that charges be dropped against the very ill Littles. The Stop and Dial action was extended to San Diego Americans for Safe Access members for participation. While in court today Lloyd acknowledged receiving over sixty calls and voicemails but was unable to say if charges against the Littles would be dropped.

If you would like to call George Lloyd and ask for compassion for the Littles, dial the Vista DA’s Office at 760-806-4004; key 1 for English; key 4 to speak to an operator and ask for George Lloyd.

Here is a polite script:

Hello, I am calling for George Lloyd please?
Hello, Mr. Lloyd, my name is ________________________, I am a resident of San Diego and I’m calling to ask that you drop the charges against Dennis and Deborah Little. Deborah has been an HIV/AIDS patient for 20 years and Dennis suffers from arthritis. Their preliminary hearing is next week, please use your prosecutorial discretion to drop the charges and respect state law!


Both the Littles are medical cannabis patients and they grew their own medicine on their own property in a rural area of San Diego County.

After a prior month’s helicopter surveillance, on October 17, 2012, a small army of cross-sworn agents, led by Deputy Sheriff Matt Stevens, stormed into the Little home and without even bothering to verify patient status, manhandled the fragile Littles, proceeded to interrogate them for hours, then ripped up the plants found on the property. Then, on November 27, 2012, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis filed felony criminal charges against the couple.

Cases like these put patients’ lives at risk. The Littles are too frightened of the DEA and Dumanis’ office to use their cannabis medicine which eases their pain and increases appetite. The couple has asked for community support in their battle. If you are a patient or a patient advocate please consider calling George Lloyd or coming to the Littles’ preliminary examination on March 28 at 9:00 AM beginning in Department 5 of Vista Court at 325 S. Melrose Dr., Vista, CA 92081. The case will be assigned a courtroom which you can learn by asking the Bailiff in Dept. 5.

For more information please contact Terrie Best, San Diego Americans for Safe Access Court Support Coordinator at [email protected].

Other articles on this case:
http://www.safeaccesssd.org/2013/03/terminally-ill-senior-citizen-medical.html

Thank you so much Square, for posting this,, I thank you personally because it could be me one day and your activism for another is what all of us need to follow through with,, sadly it should have been hundreds of calls that day..
 
soserthc1

soserthc1

7,040
313
Fast ? if police were to enter your yard (gate locked ) and find a plant or several - Does that give them the right to search your home . I assuming this is a stupid question because basically they can do as they please and yes we might get off but mission would be accomplished . your pockets are dug into for lawyer fee's at the very least ....
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
23,596
638
There was a time when I would have insisted that any good attorney would get that shit thrown out of court. Now? Now, I'm not so certain.
 
Cort

Cort

1,444
163
Fast ? if police were to enter your yard (gate locked ) and find a plant or several - Does that give them the right to search your home . I assuming this is a stupid question because basically they can do as they please and yes we might get off but mission would be accomplished . your pockets are dug into for lawyer fee's at the very least ....
Im no lawyer, but...

It would depend why they were in your yard. If they had just cause to be in your yard, like pursuing a fleeing suspect, it may give them cause to look at you further. If they had no reason to be in your yard, they would not have seen it, thus making any evidence coming from such knowledge inadmissible.

However, if they can smell it from the street, and peep it through the slats in your fence, I'd say its a good warrant. Same applies for seeing your shit when you open the door to talk to them, so dont open the door.
 
Confuten1

Confuten1

exploitin strengths - perfectin weaknessess
Supporter
1,930
263
from the info you provided, it seems like a strech that they would fuck with u or ur boy. I mean cell phones are not tied to a physcal address so they would have to do recon and they already are streched thin as it is. unless those pixs were showing wherehouse sized growes i think u are healthily paranoid.

confu
 
Clawmark

Clawmark

19
3
Haven't checked this in a while but I posted it many years ago on Overgrow:

Potbust.com

Very thorough in all the steps taken by LEO in busting growers. Followed by all the court steps one would face including the all important O'Briens Hearing to determine if the warrant was based on legit evidence.
 
squarepusher

squarepusher

959
43
apparently, don't be a grower in San Diego is the latest message

http://www.safeaccesssd.org/2013/07/san-diego-superior-court-judge-denies.html

Saturday, July 20, 2013

San Diego Superior Court Judge Denies Medical Marijuana Collective Cultivation Defense, Defendant Headed for Appeal


Robert+Orlosky+court+support.jpg
By Terrie Best – San Diego Americans for Safe Access Court Support Coordinator
July 20, 2013
San Diego, CA - In a grueling week-long trial, a superior court Judge prohibited defense counsel from bringing evidence to support that cannabis patients may lawfully collectively cultivate medical cannabis under the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMPA). And so, a jury found one defendant with a valid medical cannabis recommendation from his doctor, guilty of cultivation.
Further, after a post-verdict informal polling of the jury, several of the twelve jurors expressed concern upon hearing they had been denied portions of the law in their jury instructions. Attorney Laura Sheppard, an independent contractor for the San Diego County Public Defender’s office and defense counsel for the convicted Robert Orlosky vowed to appeal the conviction on several grounds. Most egregious of these was the denial of the pre-trail MMPA motion.
Judge Peter C. Deddeh denied Ms. Sheppard’s request to defend her client under the MMPA, because the judge believed the MMPA doesn’t apply to individual users of medical cannabis. This even though Robert Orlosky’s roommate, David Jones, was assisting in the grow operation of the fewer than 20 cannabis plants and this collaboration clearly constituted a collective covered in the MMPA.
Taking full advantage of this ruling throughout the trial, San Diego County Deputy District Attorney, Jorge DelPortillo repeatedly objected to questions posed to witnesses about California’s medical cannabis collective laws. Each time DelPortillo objected, the judge went along with him and in sidebars admonished Ms. Sheppard that HE himself would instruct the jury on the law as it applies to cannabis collectives. Yet, when it came time to add this language to the jury instructions just prior to jury deliberation, Judge Deddeh refused to do so.
In another appealable issue, despite Ms. Sheppard’s objections, the judge allowed Robert Orlosky’s roommate, David Jones to be called as a witness by the prosecution which put him at risk for indictment in federal court. The judge erred in his ruling saying since David had already plead guilty in state court, he could not then be tried in federal court as this would constitute double jeopardy. This notion is patently wrong and Ms. Sheppard has laid record to appeal both this and the missing MMPA defense.
23 year old Robert Orlosky was charged with felony cultivation of marijuana, felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell and since Robert had a firearm - used for hunting - these two felonies carried firearm enhancements.
The jury did not find Robert guilty of the possession for sales charge and that was good news. However, the instructions given to them included a lesser offense charge: felony possession of over an ounce of marijuana. The jurors turned in a guilty verdict for that lesser offense as well as the felony cultivation charge with the firearm enhancement attached.
The trial of Robert Orlosky began on Monday, July 15, 2013 and was disquieting to me from the beginning. I had never been in Judge Deddeh’s courtroom, never seen either Laura Sheppard or Jorge DelPortillo try a case and I had never met the defendant.
There were concerns about the gun enhancement as that always bodes ill for medical cannabis patients. And, the testifying roommate was upsetting too. I had mixed feelings deciding to writing about the case and I’m glad I changed my mind.
The first thing I noticed was how passionate Ms. Sheppard was about her client’s case and just how innocent Robert Orlosky is of the charges levied against him. Robert is a handsome and very young- looking 23 year old with a slight build and painfully sweet face. He has suffered much in his young life having broken his pelvis in a fall from a tree and weeks later, suffering a gunshot wound when his friend accidently pulled the trigger, shooting a bullet through Robert’s groin area and into his femur where it remains today.
In the treatment that followed, Robert had to endure exploratory surgery to very private parts of his body - I can’t imagine the trauma of that to a young man, to any man. Since there were nine men on the jury I felt the question of whether Robert was a candidate for medical cannabis pain management was put to rest at the sight of the first gruesome picture of Robert’s wounds.
The Prosecution’s case against the young man consisted of the usual NTF agent testimony. First we heard from Matt Stevens of the San Diego County Sherriff’s office testifying to flying over the rural property where Robert and David rented a trailer, spotting some plants and raiding the property. We also heard from DEA Special Agent Lurty who testified to interrogating David Jones.
In addition to the plants, the agents found a small kitchen scale, some drying cannabis, a bin of trimmed leaves and a couple of hunting rifles. Deputy DA DelPortillo - whom I have taken to calling Jorjito since he’s as stubborn and temperamental as any youngster - is a small, well dressed, arrogant little man. He strutted around the room desperate to prove a case of sales with just the amounts of cannabis and the presence of the scale as evidence.
I first saw Jorjito in action during a pre-trial 402 hearing where he tried to disqualify Dr. Michelle Sexton as an expert witness for Robert’s defense. Dr. Sexton testified to her BA in horticulture and four years of medical school for a medical degree in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University. After graduation, Dr. Sexton did her post-doctorate fellowship when she was awarded an individual grant and hosted in a pharmacology lab at the University of Washington. There she studied the endogenous endocannabinoid system, pain management and the body’s immune system.
Since then, Dr. Sexton has worked in private practice in the state of Washington where she treated cannabis patients and could legally recommend cannabis treatment. Dr. Sexton also gives talks on the endogenous endocannabinoid system and most currently she’s in private practice here in San Diego. Sadly, the state of California does not allow naturopathic doctors to recommend cannabis.
Jorjito DelPortillo insisted on the 402 hearing, all the while telling the defense he was certain Dr. Sexton would qualify as an expert witness anyway. This prickly move would cost the public defenders’ office money but Jorjito kept Dr. Sexton on the stand for a good drubbing about just how she could be certain Robert was in pain. The prosecutor seemed intent on dragging testimony out of the doctor to prove that she couldn’t diagnose pain without relying on the patient reporting it during her medical examination. Leaving one wondering how Jorjito thought pain diagnosis is possible at all without the patient’s participation.
Dr. Sexton’s testimony included a thorough discussion of Robert’s injury and the painful condition of having a bullet lodged in his bone. She told the court how he faired very poorly on opiate treatment and how he came to use medical cannabis as an alternative to the debilitating and mind-numbing opiate therapy. Jorjito was very fixated on dosage recommendations. He insisted on an exact formula, such as that used in the pharmaceutical world. Dr. Sexton did her best to provide that and came armed with studies which she quoted from.
In one of his less disappointing moves, Judge Deddeh allowed Dr. Sexton’s testimony at trial where she did equally well, smiling sweetly at Jorjito’s pointed questions and scoldings.
In Laura Sheppard’s cross examination of Jorjito’s witnesses we learned that the cannabis plants pulled from the ground had been taken to a DEA lab and destroyed. However, Robert had harvested four plants prior and the bud, trim and debris from that harvest were found inside Robert and David’s home. This is what the San Diego District Attorney’s Office based their case on. Making it abundantly clear it is a big mistake to keep useless trim around the house. The jurors were told but apparently did not believe that trim and fan leaves are without medical value.
The prosecution rested at the end of the day on Tuesday having proven the existence of cannabis which Jorjito, armed with rubber gloves, pulled from DEA boxes to show the jury.
It should be noted that the DEA played several tricks with the evidence. They took a picture of six individually packaged bags of medical cannabis at the scene of the raid to make it appear they were packaged for sale. Then back at the lab the agents dumped this cannabis into one bag so that each individual bag could not weighed. But, when dividing the bulk back into six bags again in the evidence room it became obvious to defense expert witness William Britt that no matter how it was repackaged, none of the six parts weighed an even amount and thus it was unlikely they were packaged for sale.


(read more at link)
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
23,596
638
Oh my God.. that jurist should be removed from the bench! The jurors believed that trim and fan leaves have medical value, but the defendant wasn't allowed a huge portion of the MMPA defense? I'm astonished, saddened, maddened, and disgusted that so few of my compatriots KNOW that, as a juror, you have the power of nullification. I'm also annoyed that it's been over 7 years since my county has called me up to serve on a jury. WTF am I, chopped livah?
 
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