Pubdate: Thu, 05 Apr 2007
Source: Daily Evergreen, The (Washington State U, WA Edu)
Copyright: 2007 WSU Student Publications Board
Contact:  http://www.dailyevergreen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2843
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

PLANT GROWERS SERVED SEARCH WARRANT

Three WSU students were surprised when a plant they  were growing in
their closet was mistaken for  marijuana.

On a regular Saturday evening, three roommates stood  around their
apartment going about their normal routine  when suddenly eight to 10
police officers, guns drawn,  came into the apartment and served the
unsuspecting men  a search warrant.

Robert Barry, a senior civil engineering major, stood  in shock as
police searched his apartment for a  suspected marijuana growth.

Just three hours earlier, two people, who Barry said  were there on
behalf of the landlord, were reviewing  the apartment when they
noticed a growth lamp in a hall  closet.

Pullman Police met the two citizens when they went to  the police
station soon after leaving the apartment to  report a suspected growth.

The two people also mentioned to the officer that the  roommates
appeared nervous while they were in the  apartment, and said it
smelled like burnt marijuana.

Roommate Jacin Davis, a senior business administration  major, said he
was sitting on the couch watching  television and did not understand
how he could have  come across as nervous nor how they would have
smelled  marijuana.

After an interview with the two citizens, Pullman  Police Cmdr. Chris
Tennant said the interviewing  officer believed they had enough
information to apply  for a search warrant.

"They were interviewed in-depth to see if they had been  in the
residence legally and knew what a marijuana  growth looked like,"
Tennant said.

Then a search warrant was issued and patrol officers  from Pullman and
WSU Police were dispatched to Barry's  apartment on Oak Street.

The search warrant states that "a crime has been  committed or
reasonably appears about to be committed,  to-wit: controlled narcotic
substances, in particular  growing marijuana and burnt marijuana," as
well as  paraphernalia. The apartment had drawings and pictures  of
marijuana leaves on the walls.

Much to their surprise, when the police came to the  apartment with
guns drawn, they found tomato plants  growing in Barry's closet.

"They went straight to the closet and saw tomatoes,"  Barry said.
"They regrouped for a second and then  searched the rest of the
apartment visually." Barry  said the officers found nothing and even
threatened to  bring dogs back to search the apartment further.

"They must have felt stupid by then," he said.

Davis said he was speechless but not terribly surprised  when police
showed up at their apartment.

Barry had been growing the tomatoes since the beginning  of the
semester and they had joked that someday  something like this would
happen.

"I knew exactly what they were coming for," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Derek