Pubdate: Sat, 12 May 2001 Source: Burlington Free Press (VT) Copyright: 2001 Burlington Free Press Contact: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/632 Author: David Gram, The Associated Press COURT: FLYOVER SUFFICIENT FOR SEARCH WARRANT MONTPELIER -- In a split decision, the Vermont Supreme Court on Friday relaxed the requirements police officers must meet when they seek a search warrant after spotting what could be marijuana plants from the air. The two justices who dissented from the decision, John Dooley III and Denise Johnson, said they feared the result would be "unnecessary and mistaken home searches, with a clear invasion of the privacy of Vermont homeowners." In a case arising out of Addison County, the three-member court majority said it was OK for State Police Trooper Chris Campbell to obtain a search warrant after spotting plants he thought were "consistent in color, shape and texture" with marijuana from 525 to 600 feet in the air. Campbell and other officers later went to a property next to the plot where they had seen the plants and obtained better confirmation that they were marijuana before seeking a search warrant. The property owner was later charged with possession and cultivation of marijuana. The lower court rejected the grounds for the search warrant related to the observations the officers made from the ground. It granted the warrant based on the aerial search alone, and that prompted the debate between the justices. The majority, composed of Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy and Associate Justices James Morse and Marilyn Skoglund, labeled "hypertechnical" the defense's claim that Campbell wasn't sure enough the plants were marijuana based on the flyover alone. The majority said past cases have determined that a search warrant can be issued when "a person of reasonable caution would conclude that a crime has been committed and that evidence of the crime will be found in the place to be searched." The minority opinion, written by Dooley, cited past cases in which police officers have mistaken other plants for marijuana and been granted search warrants. In one Oregon case, police thought they saw marijuana through a window, obtained a search warrant, found the suspect plants to be common house plants but charged the person anyway based on marijuana found in the basement. The defense won that case. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe