Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
FROM SCOTT:
On Thursday, June 18th 2009, I Woke up to police officers banging on both my front and back doors. It looked like the game Grand Theft Auto when the player has a 5 star criminal rating for killing cops, just police everywhere. Dozens of police officers, for what? a marijuana grow in a private residence.
I answered the door and asked the officers, "What's this all about?" and then tried to shut the door behind me. The officers did not allow me to shut the door, before I could even finish my sentence, "what's this all ....." about 3 of these officers barged into my front door, and I was being put in handcuffs. Before a search was made or a warrant was shown.
I tried to stop them from just running into my house and I said "Hey, I need to see a warrant before you come in here?" one officer responded with "No you don't". So I respond with "Yes I do, you cannot search the premises without first showing me a warrant". One officer then asked me "Are you a lawyer". I respond, "No, but every lawyer I ever talked to said you must show me the warrant before you come in here". This set off one officer in particular, and he told me "You have some balls to say that to a bunch of cops, who can shoot you." At this moment, I began fearing for my life. I just received a death threat from an officer and I actually believed he would shoot me. I envisioned myself being shot, and killed, left for dead, and about 50 police officers covering each others asses. I sensed evil in the man. So right then, I shut up. One officer told me, that they need to search the house to determine that there are no weapons that could be used to harm them. Harm them? It's at least 50 against one, they aren't going to lose this fight.
----
According to Oregon Law
Section 133.575 - Execution of warrant.(2) The executing officer shall, before entering the premises, give appropriate notice of the identity, authority and purpose of the officer to the person to be searched, or to the person in apparent control of the premises to be searched, as the case may be.
I was never given notice as to the identity, and purpose of the warrant before they entered the premises. They entered the premises as soon as I opened the door.
Another Oregon law
Section 133.575 - Execution of warrant 3) Except as provided in ORS 133.619, before undertaking any search or seizure pursuant to the warrant, the executing officer shall read and give a copy of the warrant to the person to be searched, or to the person in apparent control of the premises to be searched. If the premises are unoccupied or there is no one in apparent control, the officer shall leave a copy of the warrant suitably affixed to the premises.
----
Well, the officer didn't read anything to me until the search had already began. He didn't give me a copy at that time either. I never even saw a copy of the warrant until I was conditionally released the following day. The copy he read to me, he said was 2 pages long. The copy I received was 4 pages long. How am I to know the warrant is legit, if I can't even see the piece of paper he is reading, and I didn't have a copy to read for myself? He could have just been looking at a piece of paper, and making stuff up. I'm sure he didn't, but how am I to know if this warrant is real or not? That's the point of giving a copy before a search, so there is no confusion, that yes, they have the authority to search my house.
----
Another search and seizure law in Oregon
Section 133.575 - Execution of warrant (1) A search warrant may be executed only within the period and at the times authorized by the warrant and only by a police officer. A police officer charged with its execution may be accompanied by such other persons as may be reasonably necessary for the successful execution of the warrant with all practicable safety.
----
Well, when I finally looked at a copy of my warrant, the day after the search, the warrant was addressed to "Any police officer in the state of Oregon"
I do not feel that it is reasonably necessary for every police officer in the state of Oregon to come to my house. The amount of officers that were there was unreasonable.
Now keep in mind, I was in handcuffs before a warrant was shown to me, before a search started. Before anything, but my name is never mentioned in this warrant. 3 people who don't even live in my house were listen on the warrant. Why was I in handcuffs before a search began over a warrant that I am not listed on?
The police started having their way with my house. Treating it like a big house party get together for police officers, where they can just trash the place and leave somebody else to pay the damages. They even went and got Subway for everybody so they can all eat sandwiches in my house. They broke open my back door, even though they were already in the house, and the front door was open and unlocked. The officer who had threatened my life really wanted to kick in the back door, one officer said "lets just remove the plants through the window" I offered to find my keys, an officer was assisting me in finding my keys when I heard "Thud, we don't need a key" The officer who threatened my life just had to kick the door open and break it, causing me further damages that I am going to have to pay for.
While the officers were searching my house, one of them came upon a safe. I was asked "what's in the safe" I said, "nothing" and the officer responded with "well do you have a combination, I don't want to have to break it open." But it was to my knowledge that the officer needed a separate warrant to search a locked object such as a safe. I gave the officer the combination and all of that so that my room mates safe wouldn't get broken, then the next day when I get home I see a safe that was busted and broken into anyway. With the same contents that were in there before it was broken into, nothing. They broke the safe for nothing. Curtain rods were broken, curtain blinds were broken. My house was completely trashed. Damages which I am going to have to pay for and be sent to collections by my landlord, and possible future garnishment of wages.
All of this attention to a marijuana growing operation while there's a meth house four houses up the street where people are in and out all day buying meth. There were no sales of marijuana in my house, I pretty much kept to myself with all marijuana in the house at that time intended on being used for personal consumption.
I do not have a medical card. I never enlisted in the Oregon Medical Marijuana due to lack of knowledge as to how to become part of it, and also out of fear that I would be harassed by police if I was on some marijuana list. I have a stress fracture on the metatarsal bone in my left foot(the ball underneath the pinky toe) which causes me pain all the way up the left side of my body including my ankle, my knee, my back, and my shoulder. I have some sort of disc problem in my left hip, I feel a pinching at all hours of the day. I have a hand injury that will never completely heal because of a freak accident I had where an artery in my hand needed to be tied off. I have been prescribed Percoset before but it made me sick. I don't like taking pills and I have never taken them unless the pain was too unbearable to not take them. I prefer marijuana. Marijuana helps me physically and I notice while I use it I feel the urge to get up and stretch in a way that is soothing to my injuries. I've never felt anything like it in any other medication.
I was charged With 3 felonies. One of them being manufacturing marijuana. How one manufactures a plant I don't know. I was charged with delivery on or around June 18th. There were no deliveries on or around June 18th. I hadn't even left the house with any weed in my pocket in a series of weeks before this incident. I had no car, I was in my house by myself. Not exactly a delivery. I was charged with felony marijuana possession. I was also charged with a misdemeanor, frequenting my own house. If you live somewhere you are probably going to frequent that place. The only good that came from this, was that the cops were sloppy when they seized the plants that were hang drying, and left several nuggets in my carpet. But I am not allowed to use illegal drugs at this time, so I did not inhale.
Everybody please get your medical cards, stay within the legal bounds of the medical marijuana plan in your state. Fight for legalization. Help others in any way you can who are going through legal troubles because of marijuana related arrests. Fight crooked police who go against the procedures on executing a search warrant. Know your rights, and stand by your rights. Nobody should be imprisoned because of marijuana, nobody.
Source: Ed Rosenthal
On Thursday, June 18th 2009, I Woke up to police officers banging on both my front and back doors. It looked like the game Grand Theft Auto when the player has a 5 star criminal rating for killing cops, just police everywhere. Dozens of police officers, for what? a marijuana grow in a private residence.
I answered the door and asked the officers, "What's this all about?" and then tried to shut the door behind me. The officers did not allow me to shut the door, before I could even finish my sentence, "what's this all ....." about 3 of these officers barged into my front door, and I was being put in handcuffs. Before a search was made or a warrant was shown.
I tried to stop them from just running into my house and I said "Hey, I need to see a warrant before you come in here?" one officer responded with "No you don't". So I respond with "Yes I do, you cannot search the premises without first showing me a warrant". One officer then asked me "Are you a lawyer". I respond, "No, but every lawyer I ever talked to said you must show me the warrant before you come in here". This set off one officer in particular, and he told me "You have some balls to say that to a bunch of cops, who can shoot you." At this moment, I began fearing for my life. I just received a death threat from an officer and I actually believed he would shoot me. I envisioned myself being shot, and killed, left for dead, and about 50 police officers covering each others asses. I sensed evil in the man. So right then, I shut up. One officer told me, that they need to search the house to determine that there are no weapons that could be used to harm them. Harm them? It's at least 50 against one, they aren't going to lose this fight.
----
According to Oregon Law
Section 133.575 - Execution of warrant.(2) The executing officer shall, before entering the premises, give appropriate notice of the identity, authority and purpose of the officer to the person to be searched, or to the person in apparent control of the premises to be searched, as the case may be.
I was never given notice as to the identity, and purpose of the warrant before they entered the premises. They entered the premises as soon as I opened the door.
Another Oregon law
Section 133.575 - Execution of warrant 3) Except as provided in ORS 133.619, before undertaking any search or seizure pursuant to the warrant, the executing officer shall read and give a copy of the warrant to the person to be searched, or to the person in apparent control of the premises to be searched. If the premises are unoccupied or there is no one in apparent control, the officer shall leave a copy of the warrant suitably affixed to the premises.
----
Well, the officer didn't read anything to me until the search had already began. He didn't give me a copy at that time either. I never even saw a copy of the warrant until I was conditionally released the following day. The copy he read to me, he said was 2 pages long. The copy I received was 4 pages long. How am I to know the warrant is legit, if I can't even see the piece of paper he is reading, and I didn't have a copy to read for myself? He could have just been looking at a piece of paper, and making stuff up. I'm sure he didn't, but how am I to know if this warrant is real or not? That's the point of giving a copy before a search, so there is no confusion, that yes, they have the authority to search my house.
----
Another search and seizure law in Oregon
Section 133.575 - Execution of warrant (1) A search warrant may be executed only within the period and at the times authorized by the warrant and only by a police officer. A police officer charged with its execution may be accompanied by such other persons as may be reasonably necessary for the successful execution of the warrant with all practicable safety.
----
Well, when I finally looked at a copy of my warrant, the day after the search, the warrant was addressed to "Any police officer in the state of Oregon"
I do not feel that it is reasonably necessary for every police officer in the state of Oregon to come to my house. The amount of officers that were there was unreasonable.
Now keep in mind, I was in handcuffs before a warrant was shown to me, before a search started. Before anything, but my name is never mentioned in this warrant. 3 people who don't even live in my house were listen on the warrant. Why was I in handcuffs before a search began over a warrant that I am not listed on?
The police started having their way with my house. Treating it like a big house party get together for police officers, where they can just trash the place and leave somebody else to pay the damages. They even went and got Subway for everybody so they can all eat sandwiches in my house. They broke open my back door, even though they were already in the house, and the front door was open and unlocked. The officer who had threatened my life really wanted to kick in the back door, one officer said "lets just remove the plants through the window" I offered to find my keys, an officer was assisting me in finding my keys when I heard "Thud, we don't need a key" The officer who threatened my life just had to kick the door open and break it, causing me further damages that I am going to have to pay for.
While the officers were searching my house, one of them came upon a safe. I was asked "what's in the safe" I said, "nothing" and the officer responded with "well do you have a combination, I don't want to have to break it open." But it was to my knowledge that the officer needed a separate warrant to search a locked object such as a safe. I gave the officer the combination and all of that so that my room mates safe wouldn't get broken, then the next day when I get home I see a safe that was busted and broken into anyway. With the same contents that were in there before it was broken into, nothing. They broke the safe for nothing. Curtain rods were broken, curtain blinds were broken. My house was completely trashed. Damages which I am going to have to pay for and be sent to collections by my landlord, and possible future garnishment of wages.
All of this attention to a marijuana growing operation while there's a meth house four houses up the street where people are in and out all day buying meth. There were no sales of marijuana in my house, I pretty much kept to myself with all marijuana in the house at that time intended on being used for personal consumption.
I do not have a medical card. I never enlisted in the Oregon Medical Marijuana due to lack of knowledge as to how to become part of it, and also out of fear that I would be harassed by police if I was on some marijuana list. I have a stress fracture on the metatarsal bone in my left foot(the ball underneath the pinky toe) which causes me pain all the way up the left side of my body including my ankle, my knee, my back, and my shoulder. I have some sort of disc problem in my left hip, I feel a pinching at all hours of the day. I have a hand injury that will never completely heal because of a freak accident I had where an artery in my hand needed to be tied off. I have been prescribed Percoset before but it made me sick. I don't like taking pills and I have never taken them unless the pain was too unbearable to not take them. I prefer marijuana. Marijuana helps me physically and I notice while I use it I feel the urge to get up and stretch in a way that is soothing to my injuries. I've never felt anything like it in any other medication.
I was charged With 3 felonies. One of them being manufacturing marijuana. How one manufactures a plant I don't know. I was charged with delivery on or around June 18th. There were no deliveries on or around June 18th. I hadn't even left the house with any weed in my pocket in a series of weeks before this incident. I had no car, I was in my house by myself. Not exactly a delivery. I was charged with felony marijuana possession. I was also charged with a misdemeanor, frequenting my own house. If you live somewhere you are probably going to frequent that place. The only good that came from this, was that the cops were sloppy when they seized the plants that were hang drying, and left several nuggets in my carpet. But I am not allowed to use illegal drugs at this time, so I did not inhale.
Everybody please get your medical cards, stay within the legal bounds of the medical marijuana plan in your state. Fight for legalization. Help others in any way you can who are going through legal troubles because of marijuana related arrests. Fight crooked police who go against the procedures on executing a search warrant. Know your rights, and stand by your rights. Nobody should be imprisoned because of marijuana, nobody.
Source: Ed Rosenthal
