[ink slingin' in the 805]

Me and my girlfriend got ourselves in a pickle. I’m from Boston, born and raised. I came out to cali to visit my sister who’s husband is in the military and deployed. Well my planned month long stay turned out to be a permanent home because this time out here I met the female version of me. i did not think it was possible to click with someone as much as me and her clicked the first time we kicked it. see I’ve been bouncing back and fourth from Boston to cali for 6 years. I’m a tattoo artist so I have work wherever I am as long as I have my equipment. I’m not the one to jump right into serious relationships at all and if there’s anything I’m scared of on this earth it’s got to be commitment. But all that was null when I met her, I knew for a fact this was the girl for me. So she was fresh out of a relationship and all her belongings were still at her ex's house. I apologize for dragging this out, I just want everyone to know the situation.

My sister was moving back to Boston in 2 weeks so that gave me and my girl plenty of time to find an apartment before my sister left while we stayed with her on base. my sister had a 3 bedroom house on base rent free and that’s where I stay whenever I come have my stays in cali. Well it kind of hit the fan with my sister, the doctor she had after a surgery was very generous with the pain killers and she got all addicted to opiates. When my dad came out for a visit he seen her and immediately flew her back home to Boston with him and the rest of the family.
Well this was leaving me and my girlfriend 2 weeks LESS to find a place and we were screwed. so my sister said we could stay at the house (on base) for a few weeks until we found a place. From the start I did not like the idea of being on base so me and my girl decided we would go balls to the wall with apartment hunting and try to get one within the next 3 or 4 days. once again sorry for dragging this first part out so much, I just want everyone to know the situation to give my stupidity any justice what so ever.

I’m not arguing the fact at all that I did not make a dumb mistake. we screw up sometimes and this was one of mine. We knew we should not have brought anything on that base, regardless of both me and my girlfriends medical status. We knew we shouldn’t have had 8-10 different strains of the highest quality meds, a $600 glass delivery device, and a 1 month old plant out back. Luckily we only had a gram or so of each strain so it was well under an ounce.

So… how did it go down? Only 3 days staying there, me and my girl we about to watch the Simpsons when housing officials and a few federal police officers knocked on the door. They took it upon themselves to enter and claim someone tipped them off that we were illegally living there. One thing led to another and without any consent they were searching the place and tearing shit apart everywhere. We have a court date in about a month and a half up in Santa Barbra.

Were medical but I don’t know if that’s going to be able to be used as any kind of defense in fed court, I don’t know. I’m so lost and confused and we can’t afford a lawyer and I just wish I could get some legal advice from someone that knows about the federal system because I don’t and my girl is scared and I’m nervous. Please help..... Eric Ventura, CA

[ShoeboxMemory]

Ouch... this one is a tough one! Good luck man!
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[gar3618]

My one piece of advice is to get a lawyer right away. Expensive? Yes. Help you out in the long room? HELL YES.

Best of luck to you

[severd024]

Hopefully with Obama in office it will change things. That is a tough one.

[superface13]

Contact one of the many organizations that support medical marijuana and see if they can help you find a lawyer and/or help with legal fees. Don't know if that will help but it's worth a shot. Best of luck to you.

[In_Hollywood]

Originally Posted by superface13

Contact one of the many organizations that support medical marijuana and see if they can help you find a lawyer and/or help with legal fees. Don't know if that will help but it's worth a shot. Best of luck to you.

= = = = = = => I would think, that they needed to have a SEARCH WARRENT, signed by a Judge, otherwise they just got tpped and broke in, trashing te place! Get Margolin's Guide to MMJ Laws!!! Available at his Office, I think in West Hollywood. Hope that'll help! =Judy=
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[ShoeboxMemory]

Originally Posted by In_Hollywood

= = = = = = => I would think, that they needed to have a SEARCH WARRENT, signed by a Judge, otherwise they just got tpped and broke in, trashing te place! Get Margolin's Guide to MMJ Laws!!! Available at his Office, I think in West Hollywood. Hope that'll help! =Judy=
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On any other case that would've been true. But they were on a military base, 100% government property. And now he's going to Federal Court, which I'm guessing charges you on the federal level not the state level. Correct?
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[Lion of Judah]

I was raided before, not by the feds but by local pd. The first thing is get a lawyer and get a good one!!! Theres tons on NORML and if your running short on funds most of the time they will work out a payment program from you. If you get a lawyer you might not do time, but the plant in the back isnt good at all, and you where on a Army base and that the feds land and the feds laws so if they wanted to they could throw the book at you. Its the same as BLM land, they dont care about your rec or what a doc says. Good luck bro and GET A LAWYER its worth every $ and i know how you feel but you will get through it even if you dont like the out come but if they didnt take you to jail I wouldnt stress to much! and dont be so hard on yourself you live and you learn next time you wont do something like that again, right!!!

[Lion of Judah]

Originally Posted by In_Hollywood

= = = = = = => I would think, that they needed to have a SEARCH WARRENT, signed by a Judge, otherwise they just got tpped and broke in, trashing te place! Get Margolin's Guide to MMJ Laws!!! Available at his Office, I think in West Hollywood. Hope that'll help! =Judy=
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since it free housing for people in the service they have every right to go into the house at anytime. Its in his sisters contract. Most likely they knew his sis was gone and they seen them going in and thought they were squaters and get to go get then out.

Originally Posted by ShoeboxMemory

On any other case that would've been true. But they were on a military base, 100% government property. And now he's going to Federal Court, which I'm guessing charges you on the federal level not the state level. Correct?
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You are 100% right!

[juangoodman]

I would imagine that since you were on Federal property you will have less options that if you were not, but I'm not a lawyer and neither are any of the previous posts ( I'm assuming). So you need to speak with a lawyer is the best advice anyone can give you right now. Who knows maybe you can beat the charge of MJ because you are a MMJ patient in Cali. Are they going to charge you with trespassing on Gov't property? That's why you need to talk to a _______.

You say you cannot afford a lawyer, but have you checked to see if you are eligible for a Public Defender? And as other posters have said check with ASA and Norml. Hopefully you will just receive a fine and a slap on the wrist, but a PD is better than nothing. Good luck. I hope you receive a fair ruling.

[gopers]

Originally Posted by juangoodman

I would imagine that since you were on Federal property you will have less options that if you were not, but I'm not a lawyer and neither are any of the previous posts ( I'm assuming). So you need to speak with a lawyer is the best advice anyone can give you right now. Who knows maybe you can beat the charge of MJ because you are a MMJ patient in Cali. Are they going to charge you with trespassing on Gov't property? That's why you need to talk to a _______.

You say you cannot afford a lawyer, but have you checked to see if you are eligible for a Public Defender? And as other posters have said check with ASA and Norml. Hopefully you will just receive a fine and a slap on the wrist, but a PD is better than nothing. Good luck. I hope you receive a fair ruling.

Oh yeah, get a real good lawyer who is very expierenced in fed. court. And who has a good track record with drug cases. Federal court is not the place to play activists in the galley neither.

So, either Pt. Mugu or Port Hueneme bases.

I hate to be honest here, but you will do time. I am surprised they aren't going after the family member who is/was in uniform. Can anyone here tell me when the last time you heard of federal probation?

A plant on a military base/property?!?!
So, what are the charges?

This is a VERY GOOD EXAMPLE as to why I don't carry or medicate on Federal Land! So national parks is not a good idea.

Ink, at least you are admitting that yoy were wrong. So maybe someone can learn from your mistake

[resipsa]

If you have no money and are facing jail time, you are eligible for a federal public defender. You will contract with one who is assigned to the area in which you were busted. There are three offices in California, North South and Eastern.

http://www.ndcalfpd.org
http://www.fdsdi.com
http://www.cae-fpd.org

It is really important that you contact the office nearest where the incident happened and see if they can help you. Federal law does not recognize medical marijuana as a defense for possession and the fact you were in military housing is not going to make the government happy either.

Don't screw around. Get help. NOW

[Medpatient]

Originally Posted by resipsa

If you have no money and are facing jail time, you are eligible for a federal public defender. You will contract with one who is assigned to the area in which you were busted. There are three offices in California, North South and Eastern.

http://www.ndcalfpd.org
http://www.fdsdi.com
http://www.cae-fpd.org

It is really important that you contact the office nearest where the incident happened and see if they can help you. Federal law does not recognize medical marijuana as a defense for possession and the fact you were in military housing is not going to make the government happy either.

Don't screw around. Get help. NOW

listen to what resipa is saying here, they are right on. Due to this being federal, you are in trouble plain and simple. You need to get a public defender asap to assist if you can not afford a regular lawyer. Good luck to you in this case.

[ink slingin' in the 805]

wow, thank you all so much for all your feedback. some i wanted to hear some i would rather not have heard but learned from and appreciated all. also, a very special thank you to "resipsa". thats some very good and helpful info my friend and i will be going to one of those offices this week. ill keep this thread updated as the dates go on. thank you everybodyy. "E"

[canthardlystandit11]

Oh honey...I know you feel terrible in retrospect for bringing MMJ onto that base. Frankly, I'm glad you feel terrible, because that was really, really dumb. (Not trying to be mean, I swear)

I hope things work out for you!!! Get yourself a great lawyer and be ready for whatever outcome there may be. Keep us updated if you can.

[resipsa]

Please keep us updated. I've never heard of a case like this before, though I'm sure it's not the first time and I'm interested in hearing how it goes.

[gar3618]

good luck to you! do get a GOOD GOOD lawyer! it'll save you headaches throughout the whole process
or a public defender.. but I'd go into debt any day to get a top notch lawyer

[dimpala]

Originally Posted by ink slingin' in the 805

. ill keep this thread updated as the dates go on. thank you everybodyy. "E"

Where's the update?

[Damascus]

I am not a lawyer, so please don't consider this legal advice. I was wondering what your attorney thinks of the following case law. It goes without saying that any case examined should be Shepardized.

U. S. v. Peters, 11 M.J. 901 (AFCMR, 1981)

"Contrary to his pleas, the accused was convicted by general court-martial at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, Kenneth O. Patterson, Jr., J., of wrongful possession of lysergic acid diethylamide, librium, valium and marijuana. Appeal was taken. The Court of Military Review, Miles, Senior Judge, held that use of marijuana detection dog at accused's on-base quarters, under facts of case, constituted a search, in and of itself, and was unreasonable as a warrantless search."

[Westlaw KeyNumber 349 k23 k. Fourth Amendment and reasonableness in general.]
A.F.Cr.A.,1981
"Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures are equally applicable to occupants military family housing."