searched, private property need help

[carguy31]

Oklahoma...

I come home from work, watch TV, fall asleep

When I wake up there are about 8 cops at my house with 6 cars blocking my driveway which is a long private drive marked with no trespassing signs. I am in the living room and there is one standing outside my back window looking in at me. I go to the front door and they explain they are looking for a girl that used to be my neighbor (about 1/2 a mile away) about 5 years ago. I told them that I had talked to her maybe a month ago.

They informed me they found a marijuana plant in the back yard (small about 1.5 foot tall 2 feet from the house). My back yard is very secluded with a fence going into the woods behind my house and another in the bushes in my front yard.

They then told me they would let all this slide if I would call her and trick her into coming to my house so they could arrest her. after much grief I told them that I could not do that. They gave me a consent to search form which I told them they had already searched my place. they said they had not searched it (but looking in the back yard and in the bushes seemed like a search to me). they said if I did not sign the paper they would get a search warrant. I told them that would be fine, when they got back the two plants would be gone. One guy said he would get a warrant and the rest would wait there on him. I told them I thought that they should go and come back when they had a warrant but they said that it was "now a crime scene) and they had every right to be there.

At fear of making them angry i signed the search form. They told me they would contact me on monday or Tuesday and let me know what they were going to do. I hear nothing from them until today (Saturday) and they have issued a bench warrant for me, $10,000 bond and ask that I turn myself in tomorrow.

that is where I am at. what can I do here? did they have a right to search my backyard without a warrant?

 

[justalayman]

did they have a right to search my backyard without a warrant?

based only on what you said, unlikely.


you should not have signed the consent. That pretty much threw any defense you had out the window. Without that, they would have had to have PC to search and if PC was based on illegally gained info, it would likely get tossed at court.

and a $10k bond for 1 plant?

there is more to this story.

get a lawyer. Do not say anything to the police without a lawyer.

 

[StevenJ_420Law]

You have great grounds for a suppression motion, but you need to understand the case is proceeding. Even better if they found nothing other than what they found in their illegal search (ie before you signed away your rights).

So get a lawyer. A lawyer can help you so you dont need to surrender (beyond a likely booking for a cultivation charge) and will have a good solid basis for approaching your defense.

However, that means $$$.

 

[Bryce9]

"you should not have signed the consent." jm

I'm a layman too.
But having that many armed government agents appearing on one's private property seems to me to be coercive.

One policeman approaching the front door to sell tickets to the policeman's ball might be reasonable. But "8 COPS"?
What reason did they have to be in your back yard?

Their presence, numbers, and tone seems coercive to me.
They invited you to sign.
You initially declined. That indicates your intention.
That they pressured you into signing therefore seems to me to be clear.
Is signed consent obtained by duress legally binding? I don't know.

If you possibly can, and if you get a lawyer, don't just -get a lawyer-.
Search. Find a skilled attorney with extensive experience in precisely this kind of case. Find out what his / her in court defense rate of success is.
Get recommendations.

 

[carguy31]

based only on what you said, unlikely.
you should not have signed the consent.
and a $10k bond for 1 plant?
there is more to this story.
get a lawyer. Do not say anything to the police without a lawyer.

I know I shouldn't have signed the consent form, I was exhausted after a dyas work and awakened to about 6 cars and 8 police telling me that if I cooperated they would be nice and tell the DA that I was cooperating and put in a word of recommendation. I did tell them a couple times i did not want to sign it. They were at my house for what seemed like an hour. And it was not one plant, it was two if you read the first post again I think you will see that they found another in the bushes in my front yard.

Even better if they found nothing other than what they found in their illegal search (ie before you signed away your rights).

after i signed the paper I took them inside, i had one bag with maybe a joint of leaf in it, a small bag with seeds in it and two small leaves.

Their presence, numbers, and tone seems coercive to me.
They invited you to sign.
You initially declined. That indicates your intention.
That they pressured you into signing therefore seems to me to be clear.
Is signed consent obtained by duress legally binding? I don't know.

I certainly did not feel like I could tell them no, my yard and driveway blocked and 5 armed men walking around my yard, 3 standing over me plus i told them no a couple times. after all this time and them keep telling me work with them, they will work with me, they are honest and will shoot me straight I did sign it. I do probably need a lawyer, I don't know if I have the money for all this. wow..

 

[justalayman]

there is a time in life you either stand up for your rights or you really do lose them. Your rights are not going to prevent the cops from doing things. They allow you to defend your actions, in court, after the cops finish their job.

And it was not one plant, it was two if you read the first post again I think you will see that they found another in the bushes in my front yard

Ok, 3 plants in an unorganized manner on your property. That does not a plantation make.

then, the small amount found in the house.

the bail/bond still seems excessive. at least they are allowing you to turn yourself in.

and still, get a lawyer, preferably before you surrender.

One policeman approaching the front door to sell tickets to the policeman's ball might be reasonable. But "8 COPS"?
What reason did they have to be in your back yard?

exactly. As it stands, they weren't even there to deal with the OP. It makes absolutely no sense that 8 cops would be wandering around this guys yard when they are asking about the neighbor. There IS more to this story. I have absolutely no doubts. Now, maybe the neighbor is a wanted mass murderer and they had reason to believe the neighbor was at this house but there is more to the story.

 

[cyjeff]

And, if the neighbor is a mass murderer, they went through her cell records and found the calls to a former neighbor....

Still VERY shaky legal ground. VERY shaky.

I would lawyer up on Monday and turn yourself in.

Now, for the big question.... why didn't you want to help the police? Not that you should or shouldn't have and not that the cops had any right to decide whether or not to prosecute... but why not?

 

[carguy31]

and still, get a lawyer, preferably before you surrender.

I turned myself in today before this post, bond was 10,000 the bondsman allowed me to pay $600 down. I am scheduled in court on Tuesday, plan on getting a lawyer tomorrow hopefully.

there is a time in life you either stand up for your rights or you really do lose them. Your rights are not going to prevent the cops from doing things. They allow you to defend your actions, in court, after the cops finish their job.

As it stands, they weren't even there to deal with the OP. It makes absolutely no sense that 8 cops would be wandering around this guys yard when they are asking about the neighbor. There IS more to this story. I have absolutely no doubts. Now, maybe the neighbor is a wanted mass murderer and they had reason to believe the neighbor was at this house but there is more to the story.

I asked them the same thing ("what did she do kill somebody?", 8 cops for a girl that is 5'2" and 115 lbs or so?
They said they were, and I quote, "bored".

Now, for the big question.... why didn't you want to help the police?

I did try and help them after the fact by sending her a text and telling her about it. She then called me and asked what they said she did, which they wouldn't really tell me but I did tell her to call them and turn herself in. As far as not "tricking her to my house" which is what they wanted to do, trickery is wrong. It has been at least a month since I had seen her and at least three months since she came to my house to swim (I live on a creek). I cannot see any reason for them to think she would even be at my house. I do not think maybe 3 visits in a year would make my house a suspect place to find her. She hasn't been my neighbor for at least 5 years now.

 

[StevenJ_420Law]

Yep lawyer up and be ready for some very good offers from a DA who is proceeding on very shakey legal ground. It will be your decision to take some lame but juicy deal or fight this illegal search to the mat. You have grounds for fighting even the consent. Youre lawyer will help you. check back with how it goes. DAs file this because if you put someone in shackles and tell them felony, offer misdemeanor right there before the judge, they plea. Those who fight on shakey stuff WITH A LAWYER fair well at a high percentage. Good luck!!

 

[carguy31]

I talked to a lawyer today. He said go in without a lawyer and see what they say tomorrow. said he would be in the back of the court room to help me if I need it, also said that he had tried two times on constitutional violations and lost both. said the judge doesn't care. Bondsman told me that they do not allow any guilty pleas at this courthouse either.

 

[justalayman]

. Bondsman told me that they do not allow any guilty pleas at this courthouse either.

were you planning on pleading guilty? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

also said that he had tried two times on constitutional violations and lost both. said the judge doesn't care.

maybe that lawyer just, well, let me just say that maybe there are others that are better.

The other thing; if a constitutional challenge is made and the defendant loses, there is such thing as an appeal. If the appeal is lost, then apparently the initial treatment of the issue was correct.

 

[carguy31]

of course I do not want to plead guilty!? I was just saying... or he was just saying as I walked into a restaurant and a bondsman happened to be there (not the one who bonded me out but one I had talked to at some point about this "incident").

on an appeal I would have to sit in jail awaiting another trial, is that correct? If so that would really not be nice at all, but am pretty sure it would be the case, and after talking to SEVERAL people I am pretty sure this judge will not tolerate any constitutional challenges. Oh my, I hope I am able to just plead something and keep this off my record, a felony is something that I would really not want on my record...

 

[carguy31]

can I be forced to have an attorney at my next court appearance?

can I talk to the DA without one?

I plan to have one (hopefully)... I am just curious....

 

[justalayman]

=carguy31;2659040]can I be forced to have an attorney at my next court appearance?

sort of. You are allowed to represent yourself, if the court believes you are capable and understand what can happen if you do represent yourself. I do not know if they would appoint a standby attorney for you or not. Without knowing the charges, if they are serious, a judge would be more likely to have at least an attorney there to back you up even if you do not accept them. You would still be representing yourself but they would be there to know what is happening should it become apparent you need an attorney.

can I talk to the DA without one?

that's up to the DA.

I plan to have one (hopefully)... I am just curious..

good plan. stick with it.

 

[carguy31]

the only reason I signed the consent form was b/c they assured me, after a long talk, that they were honest and did not lie and were not lying to me. I asked if my name would be in the paper and they told me no, it would not, it's just pot, no big deal. well my name is most likely going to be in the paper, I hate being lied to. i was under the assumption that if my name would not be in the paper that they were not going to press charges... I abhor lies.... why aren't lies by police officers illegal?

thou shalt not lie is one of the ten commandments, along with thou shalt not steal.

and $10k bond for 2 small plants, is that normal?