United States v. Wood

Facts

On June 10th National Forest Service officer Eugene Norwell was performing aerial surveillance when he saw three patches of marijuana plants being grown on National Forest land. The next day he did a ground check of the area he spotted. The first patch was past the end of the Forrest spur road, the second patch was further into the woods by about 20 yards, and the third patch was another 10 yards into the forest. Officer Norwell testified that the plants were growing from man-made mounds, the vegetation around the plants had been cut to give the marijuana plants exposure to the sunlight, and the plants were located away from the recreation areas in a place away from hiking trails. Video cameras were placed pointing at the second patch. The camera was checked about 15 times over the course of the investigation. On June 29th fresh tire marks and footprints were noticed in the area, and the defendant was identified on the camera, along with his brother David, working on the plants. On August 3rd, Officer Norwell noted the plants must have been watered and fertilized, because the last time he saw them they were yellow and dry like the nearby vegetation, but now they were green unlike the nearby vegetation. On September 27th, most of the first patch was gone and the other patches were heavily trimmed. There was also video of the defendant working on the plants on October 9th.

On October 20th, the officers removed the remaining plants and took samples of them. Officers then obtained a search warrant for the defendant’s parent’s home, where he was staying at the time. Officers found paper sacks containing marijuana, roll of papers, marijuana seeds, pipe containing marijuana, ziplock bags, and a statement of earnings. Additionally, in one of the cars parked in the driveway that belonged to the defendant, there was a set of scales, a roach clip, and marijuana seeds. Roots of the plants were found in the truck.

Defendant admitted that he and his brother came across the plants in the Forrest while looking for landscaping plants, pursuant to a permit they had. He denied grooming, planting, or watering the plants, though he did admit to picking and using some of the plant personally. Defendant was convicted on all charges.