hahhhahahahaha...
home boy, i'm a card carrying member of NORML.
and you should be too!
i live in one of the nicest towns in our state, have mortgages (plural), a legit established biz, all kinds of other assets, a hot wife, nice cars, and more... you take no more risk than anybody else.
quite the opposite, 20 years ago and long before i "made it", gudkarma was homeless, slept in his car, & washed up behind people's homes at night.
...lots to loose is on the dinner plate of drama for nearly everyone who grows.
my town is small & on a border with several other small towns. homes are close and neighbors watching. i see cops on my street, and in my area, all the time.
so what?
cops looking in your & other people's bushes via the patrol car has nothing to do with bobby's rocketship grow lab.
i'd be stoked if i saw that on my street... and i'm holding 145 plants at the end of my driveway.
what you describe seems like standard cop patrol behavior.
i will say : cops prying on your garage door ==> NOT meaningless.
as a highly educated (10 years of higher ed) and street smart (been to jail) individual, i make it my mission to know laws regarding cultivation, penalties, and more... the same way i study up on grow techniques, nutes, & strains.
i'm gonna PM you a website set up by someone who got caught in our state with mad herb in his car.
the site chronicles his insane legal experiences.
he is VERY famous (and respected by those in the know) for fighting those draconian maryjane laws about which you worry so much.
read through it... check this dude's experience ...& look and see how fruitless fighting the State can be... one ounce to 20 pounds ...4 plants to 120 cuts.
too, might have to sell off a bunch of your favorite shit, because lawyers will want $30 to $50k UP FRONT ...even if you were busted with 4 trees.
in any case & as you see it, "probation" for a few trees would hinge on your legal argument(s), the skills of your asshole lawyer, & the whim of a dickhead judge.
the State will do it's best to stick you with everything possible ..."intent to distribute", "cultivation", "consumption", and more.
with your rocketship lab ==> plan to win... not to loose.
plan for success ...not failure.
plan to cover every base & never get caught.
plan to NEVER slack off, cause that's what makes getting caught a surity.
i hope to see you growing in your rocketship grow lab for years to come.
i hope you spare no expense covering your tracks the same way you spare no expense on pvc tubing, lights, and environmental controls.
i hope you relax, keep doing what everyday bobby does, and grow onward.
much respect!
~gudkarma