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A Lane County jury on Wednesday awarded $70,000 to a Blachly man with a medical marijuana card whose rural property was raided by sheriff's deputies after a helicopter patrol detected two small marijuana plots.
Michael Wood, 43, a general contractor who operates an Internet-based weatherization company and 18-acre farm, filed the lawsuit alleging property damage and emotional distress from invasion of his privacy.
"It was never about money," Wood said Thursday. "It was the principle of the matter. I did it so they hopefully will wake up and this won't happen to other innocent people."
The raid happened Sept. 21, 2002, after deputies in a helicopter working under federal and state anti-drug grants spotted plants growing in two clearings enclosed by towering blackberry vines, according to Wood's lawyer, Brian Michaels of Eugene. The officers on the sheriff's drug-eradication team thought the land was BLM-owned, but crossed fences marking Wood's property, Michaels said. The land was posted for no trespassing.
After cutting through the vines and an irrigation line, they discovered a copy of Wood's medical marijuana card in the growing area. They left without taking the plants, Michaels said.
However, Wood soon realized the raid had attracted thieves. He purchased a motion-activated camera, which photographed two men on separate occasions stealing marijuana from the property. One mistakenly left behind a large fighting knife, Michaels said.
"His property is now open to the likes of violent criminals. He is horrified," Michaels said. A 1.6-acre blueberry patch and separate mushroom growing operation died for lack of water because of the severed irrigation line.
Wood said he asked the sheriff's department to patrol the area to ward off thieves, but his request was ignored.
"When I walked in there, they treated me like a criminal," Wood said. "They didn't arrest me until I complained about it. I'm disappointed in the whole system."
Michaels said officials filed felony drug charges against Wood after Wood sued the county. A judge ruled the search was illegal and threw out charges alleging Wood grew more plants than allowed by the medical marijuana law.
Lane County Sheriff Jan Clements said his officers did not retaliate against Wood. A grand jury issued the charges after investigators and the district attorney's office finished their work. The timing of the criminal case and the filing of the lawsuit was coincidental, he said.
Clements said the trespass was accidental. Had officers known they were on private land, they would have asked a judge for a search warrant in accord with the law and their policy and practice. He said the lawsuit will cause the team to be more careful, but will not bring policy changes.
The county is self-insured and county funds will cover the award, county attorney Dave Williams said. The lawsuit sought more than $300,000.
After a four-day trial, the 12-person jury ruled Wood was legally growing plants for another medical marijuana card holder- accounting for the excess plants - and that the number of plants did not matter in the case. They awarded Wood $60,000 for emotional distress from invasion of privacy and $10,000 for property damage.
Wood said he is grateful to jurors for hearing the case, but regretted having to file the suit.
He said he carefully hid the marijuana grow from his family, friends and workers at the farm to ensure security on the property and privacy for his medical treatment. He said marijuana relieves his chronic pain from a spinal injury and muscle spasms without the aftereffects of prescription drugs.
The incident prevents him from using his property to grow the drug and has exposed his private medical treatment to public scrutiny, he said.
"I don't want to air my laundry in public," Wood said. "Some days you've got to stand up to the bullies."
Pubdate: Fri, 12 Mar 2004
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2004 The Register-Guard
Contact: rgletters@guardnet.com
Website: Breaking local news, news updates, sports, business and weather | Eugene, Oregon
Michael Wood, 43, a general contractor who operates an Internet-based weatherization company and 18-acre farm, filed the lawsuit alleging property damage and emotional distress from invasion of his privacy.
"It was never about money," Wood said Thursday. "It was the principle of the matter. I did it so they hopefully will wake up and this won't happen to other innocent people."
The raid happened Sept. 21, 2002, after deputies in a helicopter working under federal and state anti-drug grants spotted plants growing in two clearings enclosed by towering blackberry vines, according to Wood's lawyer, Brian Michaels of Eugene. The officers on the sheriff's drug-eradication team thought the land was BLM-owned, but crossed fences marking Wood's property, Michaels said. The land was posted for no trespassing.
After cutting through the vines and an irrigation line, they discovered a copy of Wood's medical marijuana card in the growing area. They left without taking the plants, Michaels said.
However, Wood soon realized the raid had attracted thieves. He purchased a motion-activated camera, which photographed two men on separate occasions stealing marijuana from the property. One mistakenly left behind a large fighting knife, Michaels said.
"His property is now open to the likes of violent criminals. He is horrified," Michaels said. A 1.6-acre blueberry patch and separate mushroom growing operation died for lack of water because of the severed irrigation line.
Wood said he asked the sheriff's department to patrol the area to ward off thieves, but his request was ignored.
"When I walked in there, they treated me like a criminal," Wood said. "They didn't arrest me until I complained about it. I'm disappointed in the whole system."
Michaels said officials filed felony drug charges against Wood after Wood sued the county. A judge ruled the search was illegal and threw out charges alleging Wood grew more plants than allowed by the medical marijuana law.
Lane County Sheriff Jan Clements said his officers did not retaliate against Wood. A grand jury issued the charges after investigators and the district attorney's office finished their work. The timing of the criminal case and the filing of the lawsuit was coincidental, he said.
Clements said the trespass was accidental. Had officers known they were on private land, they would have asked a judge for a search warrant in accord with the law and their policy and practice. He said the lawsuit will cause the team to be more careful, but will not bring policy changes.
The county is self-insured and county funds will cover the award, county attorney Dave Williams said. The lawsuit sought more than $300,000.
After a four-day trial, the 12-person jury ruled Wood was legally growing plants for another medical marijuana card holder- accounting for the excess plants - and that the number of plants did not matter in the case. They awarded Wood $60,000 for emotional distress from invasion of privacy and $10,000 for property damage.
Wood said he is grateful to jurors for hearing the case, but regretted having to file the suit.
He said he carefully hid the marijuana grow from his family, friends and workers at the farm to ensure security on the property and privacy for his medical treatment. He said marijuana relieves his chronic pain from a spinal injury and muscle spasms without the aftereffects of prescription drugs.
The incident prevents him from using his property to grow the drug and has exposed his private medical treatment to public scrutiny, he said.
"I don't want to air my laundry in public," Wood said. "Some days you've got to stand up to the bullies."
Pubdate: Fri, 12 Mar 2004
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2004 The Register-Guard
Contact: rgletters@guardnet.com
Website: Breaking local news, news updates, sports, business and weather | Eugene, Oregon
