Been Busted

[vindiesel]

that is f'd up man. sorry to here. last thing u thought would happen i bet. fuckin LEO illegally entering your home while u are on a vacation...! WTF!
what state?
i think u should be able to get off for most part. use good lawyer. do not grow there again. they probably will have their eye on u. maybe. depends if they are cowboys or not. good luck.

 

[BigMo]

Well went to court today and the Lawyer talked to the DA they wanted to charge me with a misdomenor for the Simple possesion with a 350 dollar fine and 48 hours in Jail.

Initially they were not willing to drop the charges to the manufacturing with intent crime. My lawyer went back and talked to them again and they wanted me to plea to a misdomenor with another 350 dollar fine and 20 days in jail. I had to decline because I would have immediately lost my job along with other things.

So I decided to take my chances in court. My lawyer has issues with the reasons given for the entrance and search of the house. He also indicated that he believed the DA had issues with the search or they would not have been willing to plea on a class C felony charge. So come next month I will either truly be a free man or I will be in prison for growing this plant for my own personal use.

Anyway I just wanted to let all interested parties know what was going on with me. I would personally like to thank -VT- for being more than a good friend to me in this these tough times. Thanks Bro ........ I have not forgotten you just been really busy these last few daze ........


Take Care All

Mo,

 

[SpacedCWBY]

Good luck!

 

[funker]

Best of luck in court, Mo, hopefully the judge throws the search out for you...

 

[blackone]

Good luck mo!
48 hours should be doable - 350 dollars too.
Paying that lawyer of yours will probably be a lot more than that;p

 

[NiteTiger]

Mo, best wishes for you bro. What a horrible scenario, and the battering you must have taken, and are still taking, must be incredibly hard, and I pray that you have and get all the help you need to fight through.

With that most important thing said, I'd like to offer some insight here, and clear up a few misconceptions I've seen in this thread.

First off, people need to realize that Seizure and Tax laws have nothing to do with the criminal charges. It's a completely different legal action, held to a different standard. Seizure and taxation laws are civil actions, not criminal. They may arise because of a criminal investigation, but they are held to the civil standard.

This is key. In a criminal trial, everyone is familiar with the 'beyond reasonable doubt' standard. Most people don't realize that the standard is different in a civil trial though. In a civil trial, the standard is 'preponderance of evidence', which basically means 'more likely than not'. The key thing to remember though is this: You can be found not guilty of the original criminal complaint, and still lose everything you own to seizure and taxation court.

Had he not paid, like was mentioned here, he probably wouldn't have had a couch to be sitting on when the deputies came back. The tax man absolutely can show up at your house with a drill and a lock, kick you out, and install his own lock.

He did right to pay it, IMO. If the ruling comes down that the law is stricken, then he can get his cash back. Better that than being the one paying a lawyer to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court.

I do have to agree that it was the ex that did you in though. As was pointed out, they had a signed warrant, and contrary to popular belief, those aren't handed out like candy. Some random fuckwad saying 'I think he grows, he's always got the best smoke' does not count as probable cause. An ex coming in voluntarily to 'ease her conscience' with specific details, yeah, that'll get it.

Also, the whole coming back later with a warrant is not unusual, sneaky, or for any nefarious purposes. I know in our community we always go to the worst when discussing cops, but in all fairness, that first investigator didn't lie. Here's how it played out for the investigator, as I see it. Inspector gets a call from ex, interviews her, determines he's got a live one. Gets the warrant from the judge, serves it, finds out this is not the career making bust he'd hoped. He's not going to hook you for this crap, he's probably embarrassed at this point that he got suckered by the ex.

However, while cops have tremendous discretionary powers, there is a line. While he didn't arrest you, or feel you were worth the effort, since he got a warrant and served it, he's got to right up the report and send it up the chain. At that point, it is out of his hands. The DA sees it, throws it in for his next grand jury sitting. Boom, he gets his indictment, and guys show up at your door. Timing makes sense as well, since in the state I believe Mo is in, in some counties, grand juries may only meet once every other month.

I also agree with your lawyer Mo. Don't take the deal, let your lawyer do his job. The DA isn't out to help you, so why do his job for him? If he wants this off his desk and 'save the court time', then he can dismiss it.

Grow safe Mo

 

[eyes]

hang in there big mo and keep us posted.hope all works out for ya.

 

[Macster2]

Good Luck Mo, tell the ex to kiss your ass and don't give her a dime and run don't walk to a more pot friendly state, God there's enough of them.I hear even NY is considering changing the laws.

 

[medicine farmer]

dont let all the haters bring you down man.....spending years paying off an attorney as a free man beats the hell out of spending years paying off the legal system with your freedom.

 

[whodi]

Go get'em MO

 

[BigMo]

So here is a little more info on what actually happened. Apparently my neighbours did call in concern for my welfare, but prior to entering the house the called my mother who said she did not know here I was but could call to find out which she did and called back the investigator to tell him I was ok. She also offered him the number and told him to call himself, which he did and also got confirmation that I was on vacation. At that point he called my ex-wife who in turn called some friends and they told her I was on vacation. She called back the investigator and told him I was on vacation also. By this time they had already entered the home after having already acquiring two confirmations that I was ok and a third when after the ex called. So in my mind logically they had no right to enter under the Health and Safety excuse. Which according to all I have read they have to have a credible reason that I am either in need of medical attention or am and have threatened to do bodily harm to me or other members in the house (which) there were none. Or they have to physically hear screams or some sort of commotion going on in the home. I believe that I could fight this but I stand the chance of loosing for whatever reason and spending 4 to 6 years in prison on a class c felony for 24 plants over half of which were clones and seedlings.

Please anyone with any expeirience with anything similar chime in I do not care what you have to say as it is knowledge I currently do not have and sorely need. 20 days or 4 years a hard sell in my mind for someone who has served this country, paid my taxes and never been in trouble with the law at all even a speeding ticket.

Happy Holidays to all and thanks for your support.

I would say pray for me but I honestly do not believe in Religion.

Mo,

 

[Macster2]

It sounds like all charges should be dropped in a heart beat. your friend the lawyer can tell you more.Since your not likely to rack up a huge legal bill grow some balls and fight the bastards. I know its easy for me to say but they had absolutely no business being in your house.The law on your side. You have no dependance (in case it goes really bad ,but it won't) The rally cry of you Americans Is Liberty or death. Fuck PoPo.Go get them buddy

 

[Dr Watt]

At least your ex / mum didn't dob you in. So the neihbours rang the authorities because your house was vacant.....?

 

[Quentin]

No friends..

No friends..

Better then your Mates of over ten years, running off at the mouth rolling over and Yapping like a Dog? whatever.

 

[bagseed77]

wait it out, they will offer 3 plea deals, dont take the first 2 they get better each time and you might get a simple possession, they dont want to goto court over trivial shit, its just weed.hang in there and dont give up.

 

[Chili_berkster]

Shit.. I feel for you Mo.. Just don't seem right yanno... I would give some advice but I have none to give. I never have and never will bet on the law. They have all the authority to (make up) anything they want. If the cop says something and has a backup. Your bumming. Then again if your lawyer is great, you may get lucky.
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Good luck Mo...

 

[BigMo]

Thanks Chilli and all that have chimed I have been weighing the odds. And from reading less that 10% percent of motions to supress illeagal searches are not changed ... in other words the judges usually rule in favor of law enforcement. So at the advice of my lawyer I think I am gonna take the plea with diversion meaning it will expunged from my record with no probation to speak of at least unsupervised. I no longer live in that backwards ass town . So 20 days in the local county jail can be rough according to the felons I talked to while being held for bond. They were all pretty helpful in telling me this pace was worse than prison. I will do my time and will eventually get back to it. Maybe by spring I can run a plant or two outside just for personal use only, as it was before my plant numbers are what killed me. Even tho 24 plants seemed quite low and none were actually in flower.


I just hope I can keep my mouth shut, and not call them all brainwashed morons while I am there. That will be my biggest problem. I have a few seeds stashed back that no on knows about so maybe a outside run could happen by spring who knows.

I know I should refrain a little while tho it is just hard to have my life dictated to me.

Anyway come jan 16th I will be dressed in orange. I have talked to my Boss extensively and he has no intentions of firing me what ever the outcome, can't ask for a better Boss if you ask me. His quote was you have not given me any reason to distrust you and I won't unless it is a embarrassment to the organization.

Wish me luck, I am tough and have been through lots worse in the Military so I have no fears. I will just be broke as hell for a while.

Take Care and Blessings to all.

Mo,

 

[hamstring]

Mo
Bro you will get through this and because I have never been in your shoes all I can do is say you made the right decision. Without actually being in this position its hard to say “go fight it” even if you do have a good as case as it sounds.

One good thing is no one narked you off allowing you to maintain good relationship with family and friends and look forward at another grow in another location.

Will be waiting to hear form you when you get out bro good luck and enjoy Christmas and New Years.
PEACE

 

[BigMo]

Thanks hamstring yea at least I was allowed to wait til after the Holidays. Gonna play it off as I have to go out of town for training so the kids do not have to know.

Mo, Take Care

 

[WeldFlash420]

Been following this thread at a distance and have to say Merry Christmas Big Mo, hope all will be well with you and yours after this little stint ya gotta sit off. Shine on.