cannabisnews.com: Defense Lawyers Want Police to Disclose Ways!





Defense Lawyers Want Police to Disclose Ways!
Posted by FoM on March 14, 1999 at 21:23:12 PT

Portland's Marijuana Task Force is questioned about a phone tapping and address tracing procedure that could be illegal. Defense lawyers are demanding to know whether Portland police illegally used a "trap and trace" to secretly provide the Marijuana Task Force with the phone numbers of everyone who called a Portland indoor-growing supply store. 
The information came to light when a criminal defendant, who is charged with posing as a police officer, taped a phone conversation with an officer on the task force, according to documents the city provided the court. Police used phone records to track down suspected marijuana growers by obtaining the addresses from the phone numbers, checking to see if they were using enough electricity to sustain a grow operation, then knocking on their doors in so-called "knock and talks," according to the transcript of the conversation. Police have been trapping the phone of American Agriculture at 9220 S.E. Stark St. since at least 1995, according to the document. It is a case that defense lawyers say could affect hundreds of marijuana grow cases in Portland and beyond if a judge rules the trap was illegal and evidence obtained as a result must be thrown out of court. In addition, hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug forfeiture assets that officers seized might be up for grabs. "The implications of this are tremendous," said Philip A. Lewis, an attorney representing one of the defendants. Lewis also said the information adds to concerns about the task force acting at the fringes of the law or beyond in pursuing marijuana growers -- and the forfeiture money that comes along with it. "I think that it is of great concern when we have a section of the police department acting seemingly with a great deal of independence and disregard for the law," Lewis said. But law enforcement officials say they are confident that they will win in court and defended the task force. "I would in no way characterize the Marijuana Task Force as overzealous," said Capt. James Ferraris, who heads the Portland Police Drugs and Vice Division. The city and Police Bureau do not acknowledge the trap exists. If it does, they say it is legal. "I believe in my heart of hearts they have done nothing illegal," said David Lesh, a deputy city attorney. But even if the traps violated state law, further evidence gathered in the cases would be admissible because police either had independent evidence of marijuana growing or the defendants gave permission for police to search their homes, said Mark McDonnell, a Multnomah County senior deputy district attorney who heads the drug unit. "We're confident that we're not going to lose any of these cases," McDonnell said. The Multnomah County District Attorney' office prosecuted an estimated 175 marijuana grow cases last year, 248 in 1997 and 364 in 1996, said Tom Simpson, a management assistant. The task force seized 126 marijuana grows last year and got $186,000 in forfeited cash, property and real estate, Ferraris said. The trap and trace is like Caller ID in that it provides only the phone number of the caller. The 1989 Legislature approved use of trap and trace if police could show a judge there is probable cause to think a person has committed or is about to commit a serious crime, including a drug offense. However, the Legislature placed more restrictions on the use of traps in Oregon than federal law allowed. Specifically, a trap could only be used for 30 days, which may be extended by an application for another 30 days. Defense lawyers argue that police have violated that by using the trap continually for several years. The two sides argued before Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael Marcus last month over whether the city would have to turn over information about trap and trace to lawyers for 18 defendants. Marcus, who has seen the police documents, ruled that the city must tell each defendant whether he was the subject of a trap and trace. The two sides will continue the legal wrangling March 16 over what information the city will have to release. The information about the trap became public after an investigation of a Bend man for growing marijuana. Oregon State Police troopers arrested Neil Jeffery Hauser and seized 83 marijuana plants from his home, according to court documents. On June 3, Hauser pretended to be a Bend police officer and called Officer Nathan Shropshire, a member of the Portland Police Marijuana Task Force, according to the documents. Hauser taped the conversation without Shropshire's knowledge. Shropshire told Hauser that before 1995, police got a court order to trap and trace every incoming phone number to American Agriculture. US West would give him information every week on computer, which police would run through the power companies. "And then . . . we just go from there," Shropshire said. "You know, you go out and take a look at it, and for the most part we start all our investigations that way and go from that to an occupant." Shropshire said he renewed the court order every 30 days. He also said police never referred to the trap in their affidavits to obtain search warrants. Hauser is being prosecuted for felony criminal impersonation. An attorney representing American Agriculture filed a notice with the city in November that the company intends to sue the city. In the tort claims notice, attorney David W. Owens claims the trap and trace was illegal. Owens said in an interview that the device violated his client's right to privacy and interfered with prospective customers. In a separate case, American Agriculture filed a lawsuit against the city and the Police Bureau in October 1995, claiming police slandered the store and intentionally interfered in its business relations. In May 1997, the city and American Agriculture settled. The company dismissed its lawsuit in exchange for the city agreeing that police would no longer conduct open surveillance, which might scare away customers. The settlement also calls for the city to pay $1,000 for each occurrence that it violates the agreement. So far, American Agriculture has not claimed any violations. Officers with the Marijuana Task Force testified in November that they first learned of the house where Steven Douglas Dons shot and killed Officer Colleen Waibel through surveillance of American Agriculture. During covert surveillance, they followed a car back to Dons' home and watched as someone unloaded equipment into the house. You can reach David Anderson at 503-294-7663 or by e-mail at DavidAnderson news.oregonian.com.http://www.oregonlive.com/news/99/03/st030911.html
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: