Busted.

Fuck, I had it coming.

Alright, so check this out. My son broke out of our house one night using a wooden chair to climb up to the front door, unbolted the dead bolt, and broke the child proof door knob lock in half, before walking down the stairs and into the parking lot of our apartments. The police brought him back and with the door wide open/a jar, they saw my grow lights coming through my grow room door. They made no responce to it until they knocked on my opened front door. My wife, who was tending our other little one at the time, had not noticed our son ran out of the front door. I was asleep for the night in my growroom/bedroom.

This was around 2 in the morning.

After they knocked on the open door, my wife came around the corner and they asked her if she knew were her son was. She left the door to look through the house and when she came back to the front door, the police were already in the house.

Keep in mind, no permission, no warrents, nothing.

They (the cops) actually walked past my wife, into my living room and kitchen and found her purse and procured her and my I.D.s.

At this point, one cop begins questioning her, while the other 2 cops used a knife to open the bathroom lock on my grow room/bedroom and woke me up from my sleep. I was pulled into the living rooma nd placed under arrest almost immediately.

My children were taken into state custody and I was incarcerated over 6 days in the county jail.

I have no priors, no other crimes have been commited in my past, and I just got my medical card yesterday (7 days after my arrest).

I have a public attorney.

We also have a witness to seeing the come into my house without permission, my security gaurd. I am having him call my attorney tomorrow to give him his side of the story, however he doesn't wish for the fact that he is a security gaurd to come up in court.

I have 1 count of child neglect in possibly the first or second degree (I'm not sure, I've got 2 different papers), 2 counts of child neglect, 1 count of manufacture of marijuana and one count of poss of marijuana (it was under 8 grams, but it's being counted as a fel atm for some weird reason, probably to make the charges stick more)

This is in Oregon, btw.

I am well aware that there is a case here for illegal search and siezure, but what can I do to help this along and benifit in my favor? I need more information to give to my public defender, because I do not believe he has the time to work soley on my case, so I'm helping him collect everything he needs for a strong defence.

I refuse to become a slave to the state. My piss belongs to nobody but me and pleading guilty to the marijuana charges is not an option. I'd rather spend 5 months in jail than spend 3 years on probation, however I don't want to go to jail.

My children are in good hands and are being sent to their grandparents for the time being. I am fairly positive we'll have them back within 3 months. This criminal case, on the other hand, is much, much, more pressing. I want my weed back. My light back, as well as my life back.

Also, I was growing 3 plants.

Any input or help would be appreciated.

Also: I cannot afford a private lawyer.

Thank you for your time, positive responces would be awesome. I am not a criminal and I have just became another statistic in this wrongness that was brought by Prohibition.

Kinda put the cart before the horse with this one, didn't ya? If you're in a med state, get the card BEFORE you grow.

Open door = no warrant required. If this gets called into question, all they have to do is say they smelled weed - there's probable cause.

Basically you fucked up and you're pretty screwed. It's going to suck but won't be horrible because you have no priors.

I feel bad for your children though, because they've had to suffer due to your poor decisions.

I wish you the best of luck though.

I feel ya bro..a family member turned on me in a heated argument. Still fightin my way out of this almost 5 years later.

The case law about the smell of weed is a beatable fact. the cops need to witness a crime and the smell is not PC. however if they see a hint of things they are allready in and thats what you will struggle with.


The weed case is not the problem. The issue with your kids is far more serious....

my attorney says that smell alone is only reasonable suspicion, not PC. keep in mind i had a lock on my grow room, which they illegally opened. they def claimed they smelled weed but i know they couldent due to my controlling the air flow to and from the room, plus with the front door wide open, there was fresh air coming into the house. for all they knew, i was growing tomatoes. instead of coming back with a warrent, they jumped the gun. if i can beat this case, i can continue to grow and my kids will be returned to me, correct?

three plants, Jesus, he was really about to hit the big time, I mean geez!! I feel for you brother, got a daughter myself, be positive man, you are no criminal.

thank you, i appreciate that.

Yeah, you're probably in the clear with the illegal search regarding the locked door. As far as beating this and continuing to grow, that's very questionable. If you wind up copping a plea to a lesser charge and end up on probation, you're probably going to have a hard time getting with probation, drug screens, etc etc vs medical cannabis patient. I'm sure it can be done, but prepare yourself for a fight.

Bryguy420 said:

my attorney says that smell alone is only reasonable suspicion, not PC. keep in mind i had a lock on my grow room, which they illegally opened. they def claimed they smelled weed but i know they couldent due to my controlling the air flow to and from the room, plus with the front door wide open, there was fresh air coming into the house. for all they knew, i was growing tomatoes. instead of coming back with a warrent, they jumped the gun. if i can beat this case, i can continue to grow and my kids will be returned to me, correct?

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any chance for a civil law suite against the police agency for this for a nice settlement, down the road? my wife got mugged on my 4th day in jail. she socked the guy in his face and put him in the dirt screaming with a hard kick to the groin, but she did not filea police report because she is now terrafied of police. i feel like i live in a communist country right now. do we really have rights as american citizens, or is the constitution an urban legend???

Bryguy420 said:

my attorney says that smell alone is only reasonable suspicion, not PC. keep in mind i had a lock on my grow room, which they illegally opened. they def claimed they smelled weed but i know they couldent due to my controlling the air flow to and from the room, plus with the front door wide open, there was fresh air coming into the house. for all they knew, i was growing tomatoes. instead of coming back with a warrent, they jumped the gun. if i can beat this case, i can continue to grow and my kids will be returned to me, correct?

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If they opened the door and found nothing you would be in the clear.... Smell is no PC to enter a secured residence, however you opened the door, thus opening the door to further investigation. They can claim they were clearing the house to ensure safety or a multitude of other things.

As for the legality of future grows, i think the child protective service will really push for termination of parental rights. This " drug manifacturing" as they will likely call it can put your children in risk of danger. They will likely require classes counseling and other things before your kids would even be returned.

Each state has different laws and it depends on the DA and the judge. You will likely have a busy schedule trying to appease the two different departments you invited in your life.

I speak from first hand experence however we are in 2 different states and we have no laws that allow any use possession

the judge wont give a shit about 3 plants, like some other guy said- the issue with your kids is a waaay bigger deal. not judging you personally but; you fucked up brodda. realistically- your getting probation no matter what. you should probly come to terms with that... but they will start calling you a bad father , and say your home is unfit for children and all kinds of bullshit. to get cps off of your ass your probly gonna have to go clean for a while anyway. I'm sorry for your situation and for the stress it puts on your family. sucks how such little things become so big. but i second the statement: you are not a criminal or a bad guy for this... just a lil careless on this one

thank you guys for your touching and constructive responces. dhs is currently on our side and they feel that my entire family, me included, are victems in this and they are fighting to return our babies to us. i am looking into medicating with these legal buds until all of this goes away. is there a particular brand that can give me anything similar to a good indica high? im fighting to get the manufacturing charges dropped so that i can keep legally growing in the future, this is a freedom that i desperately dont want to lose. can i lose my growers card for this??? ganja has had such an amazing impact on my life, i dont want to lose it. you speak of probation, how long is typical in a first time offendor's case, such as this one?

Bryguy420 said:

dhs is currently on our side and they feel that my entire family, me included, are victems in this and they are fighting to return our babies to us. im fighting to get the manufacturing charges dropped so that i can keep legally growing in the future, this is a freedom that i desperately dont want to lose. can i lose my growers card for this??? ganja has had such an amazing impact on my life, i dont want to lose it. you speak of probation, how long is typical in a first time offendor's case, such as this one?

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This is why you have to bend over, put together for a real lawyer and hire a good one. We're not lawyers in your county of Oregon, we don't have legit answers for this - we can tell you any bulshit answer we feel like or we think may be correct, but let's face it - to get answers to those questions, and to get your children taken care of, you need real, hired, professional legal help.

you misunderstand me. im looking for general guidelines here, not cut and dry advice. i have court in about 10 hours and im trying to see what might get tossed my way, not a psycic reading on what the judge's verdict will be 3 months from now. im fishing for someone who may have seen a similiar situation like this themselves, and may have an idea as to what i may be looking at. my attorney has already said probation is likely if my charges are not dropped due to the illegal s&s, which lines up with some of what my responces have been thus far.

Bryguy420 said:

can i lose my growers card for this??? ganja has had such an amazing impact on my life, i dont want to lose it. you speak of probation, how long is typical in a first time offendor's case, such as this one?

you misunderstand me. im looking for general guidelines here, not cut and dry advice. i have court in about 10 hours and im trying to see what might get tossed my way, not a psycic reading on what the judge's verdict will be 3 months from now. im fishing for someone who may have seen a similiar situation like this themselves, and may have an idea as to what i may be looking at. my attorney has already said probation is likely if my charges are not dropped due to the illegal s&s, which lines up with some of what my responces have been thus far.

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Nah - it's all very clear. Hire a real lawyer - coming from someone with somewhat similar experiences.

lol the real lawyer wants 7500 before i do anything. if my name was tony montana that wouldnt be a problem. seeing as how i only had 3 plants 3 weeks into flowering, and my name happens to be bryguy, then that means destiny has it that i only have 30 dollars in my pocket at any given time. destinyu sucks a big one lol.

what id really like to know is if i can get my plants sustained for the illegal s&s, would i have grounds to sue the police department for not doing their job, for the pain and suffering my wife and children have gone through, and the unessary jail time i was exposed to, on top of my constitutional rights being invaded? if you was in my shoes, would you do it?

your not getting your plants back. you weren't a patient at the time, and your possesion of marijuana was illegal, regardless of how beautiful your description of marijuana's effect of your life has been. if you would've had your card, then maybe, it's happene before. but you didn't. and that's all that counts this time. the police have seized your plant, lights and everything else and you can consider all that shit gone and lost until further notice from the court.

and the way your kid managed to get past several security layers without you or your wife realizing it, AAND the way you were asleep until the cops were at your feet really doesn't speak volumes about your parenting...... i'm not being a dick, i'm being honest.

and the illegal search and seizure might be hard to prove this time. smell by itself is not probable cause. weed smell, lights seeping from the bottom of a door, a wandering child without a parent, and a wide open door does give them some ammo in arguing that probable cause wasn't needed because they weren't searching, they were ensuring the welfare of the child and just stumbled upon the grow...... but it's worth trying to establish that defense....

good luck mang...

I found this ad in West Coast Cannabis as follows, (typing it in word for word)
I would contact them.... maybe they could help, maybe not..... it may be worth a try in your situation:

Ed Rosenthal
Court-Qualified Cultivation Expert
* Experience in both federal and state courts
* Strategies to resolve issues quickly
* Consulting

Contact: [email protected]
Tel: 510-533-0605 Ext 4# / Fax: 510-535-0437

good luck!

Fourth amendment violation... they entered your home without permission and picked a locked door without a warrant... sounds pretty cut and dry to me since anything with a lick requires a warrant to be searched