Should I be worried?

[thirdshifter]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Kentucky.

My wife and I live in Louisville Kentucky, and she is currently being treated for cancer. Yesterday two police officers arrived at our home while I was a sleep(because I work at night) and informed her that they received a report that someone had detected the odor of marijuana growing on or near our property. For the sake of providing additional information, my wife and I live next door to an overgrown field. One of the officers identified himself as a narcotics officer and stated he also smelled marijuana growing in the area of the field and our property. The officer asked if she knew anything or had seen any thing out of the ordinary and my wife said no. My wife asked them if they needed to come inside our home to look around, and told them about me being a sleep and our two dogs inside the home, and the officer said no. After asking if she was sure, and my wife telling them about her condition, the officer then asked if we knew anything about the people who owned the property next to us and about our next door neighbors. The officers asked if they could walk around our yard in the back. The two officers walked around our back yard, one of them talked on his radio and then both of them returned to their cars and a few minutes later left.

My question is this: should I be worried that the police think my wife and I are doing something illegal?

By the way, my wife and I do not smoke, buy or have anything to do with pot.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Kentucky.

My wife and I live in Louisville Kentucky, and she is currently being treated for cancer. Yesterday two police officers arrived at our home while I was a sleep(because I work at night) and informed her that they received a report that someone had detected the odor of marijuana growing on or near our property. For the sake of providing additional information, my wife and I live next door to an overgrown field. One of the officers identified himself as a narcotics officer and stated he also smelled marijuana growing in the area of the field and our property. The officer asked if she knew anything or had seen any thing out of the ordinary and my wife said no. My wife asked them if they needed to come inside our home to look around, and told them about me being a sleep and our two dogs inside the home, and the officer said no. After asking if she was sure, and my wife telling them about her condition, the officer then asked if we knew anything about the people who owned the property next to us and about our next door neighbors. The officers asked if they could walk around our yard in the back. The two officers walked around our back yard, one of them talked on his radio and then both of them returned to their cars and a few minutes later left.

My question is this: should I be worried that the police think my wife and I are doing something illegal?

By the way, my wife and I do not smoke, buy or have anything to do with pot.

No, this is not anything that you should be worried about at this time. They would not have just left if they found any pot growing on your property.

 

[thirdshifter]

No, this is not anything that you should be worried about at this time. They would not have just left if they found any pot growing on your property.

We live quietly. Our property has a lot of trees on it so you cant really see into our yard very easily and is not as well kept as our neighbors. The officer who identified himself as a narcotics detective told my wife that he was not there to arrest anyone and when he found people growing for personal use he "could make it disappear". My wife repeatedly told him we did not. He left his card and I called him a couple of hours after the officers left because I worry for my wife's safety because of her condition and expressed that to the officer. I bluntly asked the officer if our neighbors thought something was up with us because of our un-kept yard and the officer said they did not. I had expressed that one of the people who live near us had behaved strangely before. By that I mean his behavior included asking neighbors for gas money, burning trash late at night, playing very loud music and so forth. Interestingly, the officer mentioned knowing this particular individual since be became an officer, which was for 17 years.

The only things I have in this world are my wife my two dogs and my home. We have enough trouble with her medical problems without bringing that kind of trouble upon ourselves.

 

[single317dad]

The officer who identified himself as a narcotics detective told my wife that he was not there to arrest anyone and when he found people growing for personal use he "could make it disappear".

Cops lie sometimes.

My wife repeatedly told him we did not. He left his card and I called him a couple of hours after the officers left because I worry for my wife's safety because of her condition and expressed that to the officer. I bluntly asked the officer if our neighbors thought something was up with us because of our un-kept yard and the officer said they did not. I had expressed that one of the people who live near us had behaved strangely before. By that I mean his behavior included asking neighbors for gas money, burning trash late at night, playing very loud music and so forth. Interestingly, the officer mentioned knowing this particular individual since be became an officer, which was for 17 years.

The only things I have in this world are my wife my two dogs and my home. We have enough trouble with her medical problems without bringing that kind of trouble upon ourselves.

Stop talking to the police. No good can come of it. You're not charged with any crime, you have nothing to defend against, so you should stop talking now. If you ever are charged (or perhaps investigated) for anything, you should let your attorney talk for you.

Now go "live quietly".

 

[LdiJ]

We live quietly. Our property has a lot of trees on it so you cant really see into our yard very easily and is not as well kept as our neighbors. The officer who identified himself as a narcotics detective told my wife that he was not there to arrest anyone and when he found people growing for personal use he "could make it disappear". My wife repeatedly told him we did not. He left his card and I called him a couple of hours after the officers left because I worry for my wife's safety because of her condition and expressed that to the officer. I bluntly asked the officer if our neighbors thought something was up with us because of our un-kept yard and the officer said they did not. I had expressed that one of the people who live near us had behaved strangely before. By that I mean his behavior included asking neighbors for gas money, burning trash late at night, playing very loud music and so forth. Interestingly, the officer mentioned knowing this particular individual since be became an officer, which was for 17 years.

The only things I have in this world are my wife my two dogs and my home. We have enough trouble with her medical problems without bringing that kind of trouble upon ourselves.

Once again, I do believe that you have nothing to worry about. Your wife may have made the police a little suspicious because she told them she had cancer, and pot is something that is often used to ease the symptoms of cancer, but they still need evidence. Once again, they wouldn't have just left if they saw anything suspicious.

 

[thirdshifter]

Cops lie sometimes.

As far as whether the officer was lying or not, you are right sometimes they do. I may be polite but I am not a complete idiot.

Stop talking to the police. No good can come of it. You're not charged with any crime, you have nothing to defend against, so you should stop talking now. If you ever are charged (or perhaps investigated) for anything, you should let your attorney talk for you.

Now go "live quietly".

My wife and I have discussed this repeatedly since it happened, and we both agreed that if this were to happen again to observe our right to remain silent and invoke our right to speak to an attorney before questioning.

By the way, I am fully aware of what happened and what the police were trying to do. They saw a house with a lot of trees and lawn clutter, noticed it didn't fit with their perception of how homes in this area were supposed to look, and wanted to see if we were up to something. Also I am not saying you are wrong or contradicting you.

You know there is very little a person can do, short of no longer being alive, that police do not find suspicious. Isn't there?

 

[thirdshifter]

Once again, I do believe that you have nothing to worry about. Your wife may have made the police a little suspicious because she told them she had cancer, and pot is something that is often used to ease the symptoms of cancer, but they still need evidence. Once again, they wouldn't have just left if they saw anything suspicious.

I know, and thank you. Even if they decided that a warrant was going to be served they would have done it on the same day. My wife and I are just trying to get her healthy again. What strikes me is that I suppose I was under the misconception that having nothing to hide was the same thing as not attracting negative attention.

What is nuts to me is that the officer who accompanied the narcotics officer when he found out my wife had cancer was nicer than the narcotics detective. Of course this was probably a tactic to get information out of my wife and that fact is NOT lost on me.