Pubdate: Wed, 01 Oct 2003
Source: Oroville Mercury-Register (CA)
Contact  http://www.orovillemr.com/
Address: P.O. Box 651, Oroville, CA 95965-0651
Fax: (530)533-3127
Copyright: 2003 Oroville Mercury Register
Author: Greg Welter, MediaNews Group

DA DECLARES SHOOTING OF POT GROWERS JUSTIFIED

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey stood among an array of charts, 
maps and outlawed semi-automatic weapons Tuesday and said the shooting of 
two marijuana garden tenders during a raid Sept. 19 was justified and done 
in self-defense.

He said an investigation just completed by a special Shooting Protocol 
Team, constituted by members of every law enforcement agency in the county, 
absolves the sheriff's office of any criminal liability in the incident.

Ramsey said the findings of the team, including allegations that one of the 
dead men was not an intended target, are supported by statements from the 
only suspect who survived the raid.

Killed by sheriff's deputies in an early morning raid near Feather Falls 
were Jose-Guadalupe Castaneda Casillas, 22, and Martin Cardenas Baez, 40, 
both residents of Mexico.

A third man, Valentine-Guizar Mora, 34, also a Mexican national, was taken 
into custody unharmed. He was arraigned in Butte County Superior Court last 
week on charges that could bring a term of up to four years in state prison.

Ramsey announced Tuesday, however, that charges against Mora will be 
dismissed in this county and he'll be handed over to federal authorities 
next week.

Federal penalties for the same crimes could draw a 10 to 20 year sentence 
or more, Ramsey said. Mora is expected to be held in Sacramento and face 
charges there in a federal court.

By all accounts, Baez appeared to be in charge of the huge boomerang-shaped 
garden, which yielded more than 11,000 mature plants with a street value of 
about $22 million.

He leveled a fully-loaded AK-47 semi-automatic assault rifle at deputies 
Jason Dodd, Todd Booth and Neil Simpson as they surprised him, Casillas and 
Mora on a trail in the garden area. One of the deputies - Ramsey wasn't 
sure which - testified that the look on Baez' face went from "flight to 
fight" in an instant and he fully expected to see flashes from the muzzle 
if he didn't fire first.

Between them the deputies fired 17 rounds at Baez, hitting him 11 times, 
mostly in the waist and lower torso area.

Butte County Sheriff Perry Reniff said the deputies fired on the suspect 
closest to the area of the weapon, as they are trained to do.

Casillas, who was found with a loaded .38 caliber "special" in his pocket, 
allegedly tried to run from the area and passed behind Baez. Baez allegedly 
twisted away from the deputies and ducked as they fired. Two of the bullets 
intended for him struck Casillas in the chest.

The suspects failed to obey a warning shouted by deputy Jim Dimmitt as he 
and the three other deputies stepped onto the trail behind them.

The deputies said they heard the men coming toward them, speaking in 
Spanish, so Dimmitt first issued a warning in that language, then in English.

Ramsey repeated the warning for media representatives assembled at the 
sheriff's office Tuesday: "Police! Don't move! Put your hands up!"

Dimmitt was close enough to Mora to take him to the ground with a move 
known as a leg sweep. Dimmitt testified that Mora carried an AK-47 slung 
over his shoulder, but was unable to get it into a firing position because 
he was also carrying a sleeping bag and a bag of dirty clothes.

"That probably saved his life, or the life of an officer," Ramsey said.

When the shooting was over, deputies said they were surprised to see 
Casillas laying on the ground and ordered him to show his hands. It wasn't 
until they rolled him over and noticed two entry wounds that they realized 
he'd been hit.

Reniff said members of a Special Enforcement Unit had the garden under 
surveillance since Aug. 6, when an aerial patrol first spotted it below 
Lumpkin Road. Subsequent ground surveillance revealed that the grow was 
guarded by armed men.

He said 39 law enforcement officers from nearly a dozen agencies 
participated in the raid Sept. 19. A high risk entry into the garden was 
expected, so a team from the sheriff's Critical Incident Response Team was 
included.

Still, according to Reniff, the plan was to surprise the growers in their 
base camp, possibly before they even awoke, and avoid a confrontation.

"When officers found the camp empty, they thought they had been burned", 
Ramsey said.

At the direction of Dimmitt, the men broke up into two teams to search the 
vast grow area. Dimmitt said he and the three deputies who fired, crouched 
in tall marijuana plants as the suspects walked toward them. At one point, 
Dimmitt said, Mora came within three feet of him, but didn't see him.

Mora has reportedly waived his Miranda rights and spoken openly to 
authorities about his involvement with the pot garden.

Consistent with the leadership role Baez is believed to have, Mora said the 
men weren't armed until Baez told them local "garden pirates" had taken 60 
plants from the grow. Mora said Baez then retrieved a bag containing the 
weapons and handed them out.

Mora said he was recruited by Casillas while working at a restaurant in the 
Los Angeles area and told he would earn $250 per day. Mora referred to 
Casillas as his "friend" and called him "Lupe."

It's unclear if the men were paid on a regular basis, or promised a lump 
sum at the end of the marijuana harvest.

Reniff said the Mexican marijuana cartels working in Northern California 
have ties to Los Angeles and San Jose. He said many areas of the north 
state provide the perfect climate, elevation and water sources for growing 
marijuana. He also blamed increased activity on the fact that tighter 
security at the Mexico-U.S. Border has decreased opportunities in Mexico 
for more traditional drug trafficking.

Mora said he had only been working the grow for eight days when the raid 
occurred. Up to three other men had been spotted working the garden, but 
authorities believe they were scared off by aerial surveillance weeks 
before the raid.

Reniff said the timing of the raid was partly due to the start of deer 
hunting season last weekend, but noted that it would have occurred regardless.

"We needed to clear that camp," he said.

Plants found in the garden were mature, but not of the highest quality. 
Authorities believe the garden was too large to be effectively tended by 
just three men.
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