Ken Morgan of Middleboro, Massachusetts was arrested and charged with Possession With the Intent to Distribute Marijuana, a Class D substance. He was charged with Cultivation of Marijuana as well. According to a report in the Brockton Enterprise police executed a search warrant at Morgan’s Cherry Street residence. Inside they found seventy five small plants growing. Outside on the property police located several six foot tall plants. The police also located irrigation, lighting and fertilization systems used to grow the plants. Charges are pending in the Wareham District Court.
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Massachusetts Marijuana Cultivation Defense Lawyer
Cultivation of marijuana is not the most popular of the drug crimes in Massachusetts in terms of prosecutions. The reasons are simple. The climate in this part of the country is not as conducive to growing the drug. Nor for that matter is there adequacy privacy to do so without risking detection. Growing marijuana, particularly for distribution purposes requires among other things light, air and a moderate temperature. Rich soil and a nearby water source are necessary was well. This combination of factors is not easy to come by in eastern Massachusetts.
Growing marijuana indoors presents problems for the growers that often leads to arrest and prosecution. Thermal Infrared Imaging devices can detect difference in temperature that might alert law enforcement officials to illicit cultivation activities particularly where they are targeting a particular suspect. However, about ten years ago in the case of Kyllo v. United States, the United State Supreme Court held that the use of a thermal imaging device in certain situations constituted a search. Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution such a search requires law enforcement to obtain a Search Warrant. Another factor that might trigger an investigation into marijuana cultivation activities are unusually high utility bills. Unusually large purchases of fertilizer might prompt an investigation into Marijuana Cultivation activities. Suspicious neighbors alerted to excessive traffic at a home also factors into police efforts.
So what is Morgan looking at? A lot depends on just how defensible this case is. If there was no probable cause for the issuance of the search warrant suppression might be viable. As I have mentioned in the past, suppression often if not usually leads to a dismissal of the charges. If Morgan does not have a criminal record certainly probation and perhaps a reduction of the charges to a misdemeanor is possible. A continuance without a finding would not be outside of the realm of possibility either. Keep in mind that rarely do first time offenders get criminal records for first time marijuana charges, especially where the quantity is less than the trafficking threshold.
The Law Offices of Stephen Neyman is prepared to defend the accused for any crime. Our telephones are answered at all hours of the day and night. Call us now at 617-263-6800 to discuss your Massachusetts Criminal Case. You can also email our office. No case is hopeless. Start your defense now.