I got BUSTED... 10 months ago

[HydroDawg421]

I'm baaaaack.........

I disappeared in May of last year after I got busted! Fortunately for me they failed to get a warrant when they came in to my home. I was on a $40k bond and eventually The DA dismissed the charges without presenting them to a grand jury. There is this little known thing called the 4th Amendment and luckily when they arrived I had NOTHING growing and they found a handful of leaves in a trash can outside that I had not emptied yet. Other than that I was in between grows and EVERYTHING was broken down and put back in the original boxes. The 'secret garden" was EMPTY. I shit you not.

It all came down to 4 simple words when they appeared on my front porch for a knock & talk. I DO NOT CONSENT. Those 4 words kept me out of prison on a 25+ year sentence.

I know this is a skeptical group of people here so I offer some links from my postings last year. I'll also post some pics I took today when i went and picked up everything that they confiscated on 5/9/2012. It cost me $12,500 in attorneys fees, I lost my brand new home, brand new 5 series BMW and a new 2500HD truck. I filed for bankruptcy and lost EVERYTHING in the process. But I'm FREE!!!

I'll also post a picture of the dismissal paperwork for the skeptics who will call bullshit on this story.


Checkout these links.

http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/HydroDawg/library/ - You'll see pictures I took today when I went to the drug task force seizure yard to get my stuff. If anyone in the Atlanta/Columbus/Macon Georgia areas are looking for some hydro equipment I have it posted on Craigslist and am ready to make a deal. Any help would be appreciated as I'm a disabled Vet and I'm hurting for cash.

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/500302-harvest-pictures-my-secret-garden.html

https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/506409-female-seeds-white-widow-x.html

Craigslist ad link:

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/for/3689402748.html

 

[HydroDawg421]

Also try these pictures:

http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/HydroDawg/library/Snapbucket

 

[dr.gonzo1]

Wow, easy dude. No need to jump on the defensive. Not everyone's a cunt on this board.

Old member beats the system and returns triumphantly to hang out and tell us what the fuck went down! Whats not to like about that?

I say good on you for knowing your rights and getting a bit of luck with the timing of the bust.

Who or what fucked you?

 

[lahadaextranjera]

Why were they allowed in without a warrant? Not possible in UK. If there was no evidence then what could they have pinned on you? Just over an Oz? Sorry, bit confused.

 

[curious2garden]

.......snip.........
It all came down to 4 simple words when they appeared on my front porch for a knock & talk. I DO NOT CONSENT. Those 4 words kept me out of prison on a 25+ year sentence.

I know this is a skeptical group of people here so I offer some links from my postings last year. I'll also post some pics I took today when i went and picked up everything that they confiscated on 5/9/2012. It cost me $12,500 in attorneys fees, I lost my brand new home, brand new 5 series BMW and a new 2500HD truck. I filed for bankruptcy and lost EVERYTHING in the process. But I'm FREE!!!
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/for/3689402748.html

No those 4 words were not what kept you out that attorney that you paid your life savings to did. If you had a PD those words would not have made a difference. Anyway I do not doubt your story for a moment and congratulations on freedom. It is a wonderful thing.

 

[Figong]

Why were they allowed in without a warrant? Not possible in UK. If there was no evidence then what could they have pinned on you? Sorry, bit confused.

Quite a few will allow them in without a warrant presented as it fucks over the prosecution hardcore in terms of a US court.. he could have had 30 pounds, and without a warrant.. it'd have gotten dismissed as it did.

 

[wyteberrywidow]

First off glad to hear you are free and good.
But what led them to the knock on the door and talk to you?
Snitch? Were you selling to people?

I mean for them to come to you and have you out on a 40k bail and get your stuff confiscated sounds a bit serious.
All the best man.

 

[HydroDawg421]

I just remember how skeptical everyone on this board was when I left 10 months ago.

I'm not certain how they found their way to my front door. I told 1 person and she is a lawyer/girlfriend. We're now engaged so i know it wasn't her.

They claimed that an anonymous tip was phoned in about me smoking marijuana on my front porch. I hadn't grown anything in a few months and EVERYTHING was broken down and put away. The grow room was empty. You should have seen the look on their faces when they opened the door to an EMPTY room. It was PRICELESS.

I had a GBI agent, DEA agent and 12 members of the local task force show up for a knock and talk on a supposed anonymous phone tip. Which i called bullshit on. I declined consent and told them to get the fuck off my property. They didn't take to kindly to that and proceeded in to my house anyway and searched the main level and found NOTHING. Then they left and came back with a warrant and asked me to unlock the door to the crawl space beneath the house. On the warrant they claimed to have smelled the "green smell of marijuana growing." That was a BIG problem later since there wasn't a single friggin' plant growing. That and I declined consent and they came in anyway.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

• Reasonable suspicion v probable cause
• searches without warrants
• searches with warrants
• plain view rules
• 4th Amendment case law

I have a Criminal Justice Degree so they had their hands full with me. I told them they couldn't come in and raised hell the whole time. At that point I knew I would walk and I became the biggest a$$hole you could imagine. I went so far as to tell the lead Task Force agent that I had anal trained his wife in high school. It was keystone kops versus educated pothead. And the pothead schooled that ass.

I think they came out on the anonymous tip and had me under surveillance and saw me coming and going underneath the house. The didn't have probable cause for a warrant so they tried the knock and talk. The GBI agent told me later that in 25 years of doing knock and talks I was the FIRST PERSON EVER TO DECLINE CONSENT! That is mindboggling to me!!!

I NEVER sold a single gram of smoke. EVER. It's still buried in the woods near my Uncle's house. I buried it there several months before this happened.

 

[Figong]

Hydro, check your mail.. a bit of important information sits inside.

 

[ClaytonBigsby]

Welcome back. Sorry for all you had to lose, but you are spot on with the attitude that keeping your freedom is worth all else! Very happy for you.

 

[HydroDawg421]

They can come in without a warrant. In fact they can do whatever they want to. Remember it was 15-1. Short of me physically assaulting them there was little I could do. That and I was in cuffs by this time.

The fact that they came in without a warrant invokes what is called the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule means ANY evidence is inadmissible and at that point they don't have a case. That's why this was dropped. They were dumb enough to even wrote in their report that I "sounded like a broken record and repeated I DO NOT CONSENT for nearly 2 hours."

 

[lerellion]

Glad you were able to beat the charges man.... But being in Georgia probably didn't make it any easier.. Southern Leo no likey pot much ---- sounded like you were public enemy number one... I wonder how many MAJOR crimes were commited in your area while this was going down........ Keep your head up man all that shit you lost was just material shit anyways, at least your not in a Georgia prison wondering why Bubba is being so rough tonight.......

 

[ilikecheetoes]

hmm robert in ATL who talked shit to the cops and walks then posts some pretty easily identifiable info on a pot forum along with the location of his stash?

 

[Balzac89]

They can come in without a warrant. In fact they can do whatever they want to. Remember it was 15-1. Short of me physically assaulting them there was little I could do. That and I was in cuffs by this time.

The fact that they came in without a warrant invokes what is called the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule means ANY evidence is inadmissible and at that point they don't have a case. That's why this was dropped. They were dumb enough to even wrote in their report that I "sounded like a broken record and repeated I DO NOT CONSENT for nearly 2 hours."

They could have just called a judge and had a warrant in a few hours. You got lucky these cops were being lazy and made a big mistake

 

[HydroDawg421]

It only took a few minutes and the RIU a$$hole appears!

 

[curious2garden]

.....snip..... They didn't take to kindly to that and proceeded in to my house anyway and searched the main level and found NOTHING. Then they left and came back with a warrant and asked me to unlock the door to the crawl space beneath the house.

There is a CI involved, per your statement above.

I have a Criminal Justice Degree so they had their hands full with me. I told them they couldn't come in and raised hell the whole time. At that point I knew I would walk and I became the biggest a$$hole you could imagine. I went so far as to tell the lead Task Force agent that I had anal trained his wife in high school. It was keystone kops versus educated pothead. And the pothead schooled that ass.
........snip.......

They will return. They will watch you. They will dial all the alphabet agencies. Discretion and calmness in these situations is key. All you have to do is piss off the wrong bureaucrat and they will make it their mission in life to follow you.

I wish you the best and hope things work out for you but I'd never grow in that place again and depending on just how badly you acted I might not grow or jaywalk for a long time to come.

 

[HydroDawg421]

They could have just called a judge and had a warrant in a few hours. You got lucky these cops were being lazy and made a big mistake

Not that easy. A warrant requires probable cause. They only had reasonable suspicion. And that won't cut it.

 

[HydroDawg421]

There is a CI involved, per your statement above.



They will return. They will watch you. They will dial all the alphabet agencies. Discretion and calmness in this situations is key. Acting like a maniac channels the maniac in them. All you have to do is piss off the wrong bureaucrat and they will make it their mission in life to follow you.

I wish you the best and hope things work out for you but I'd never grow in that place again and depending on just how badly you acted I might not grow or jaywalk for a long time to come.

A confidential informant is required to meet a 2-prong test as laid out in Aguilar v Texas. An anonymous telephone call does not meet this requirement.

 

[curious2garden]

A confidential informant is required to meet a 2-prong test as laid out in Aguilar v Texas. An anonymous telephone call does not meet this requirement.

Good luck on this obviously you have it all under control. When do you plan to start growing again?

 

[wormdrive66]

A confidential informant is required to meet a 2-prong test as laid out in Aguilar v Texas. An anonymous telephone call does not meet this requirement.

I say you got snitched on. Either from posting here or you let the wrong person know what you were doing. They (the CI) got busted and used you as a get out of jail free card. They don't want to give up the snitch so they gave you a BS reason for being there. They just underestimated the fight you would put up. Most people just take the deal and do the time.