Butte County

[rives]

oroville is such a shitty town, these clown asss conservatives act like they are defending the holy land or some shit.

I'm going to have to dig up some ancient posts from when you were thinking about moving up there. You were extolling the virtues of Oroville and I was telling you that it had been an unflushed toilet since they built the dam.

Hope it all works out for you guys. I hate that place......

 

[theJointedOne]

Heard folks are getting certified letters from the county...idunno

 

[ButteCounty Guy]

Heard folks are getting certified letters from the county...idunno

That would make sense TJO. They so want to be able to abate grows and to get the $1000 a day fine. At the very least they need to be able to prove that the property owner was aware that there was a violation of a county ordinance on the property. I don't think the certified letter is a sure thing for them because of the limited remedies available to property owners, and the rental or lease agreement for the property, but it is a step closer.

 

[theJointedOne]

Couple helis headed into the canyons this morning.

 

[ButteCounty Guy]

Couple helis headed into the canyons this morning.

Two have been working on installing new power lines near the PG&E town on the road from Butt Lake. One was a weird modern looking dark blue, the other one a small roundish one.

 

[Chunkypigs]

it figures….

Investigator for regional narcotics team charged with trafficking marijuana to Pennsylvania
Authorities seized 247 pounds of pot, $11,000 in cash and officer’s badge and service weapon

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article53431480.html#storylink=cpy

Dozens of drug cases in Yuba and Sutter counties may be irreparably tainted and facing dismissal after a narcotics strike team officer and two associates were arrested on charges of transporting 247 pounds of marijuana to Pennsylvania.

Yuba County Deputy Christopher Heath, 37, was a lead investigator who filed numerous search warrants and directed raids in marijuana, methamphetamine and other drug cases for a five-agency Narcotics Enforcement Team in Yuba and Sutter counties.

On Dec. 29, Heath and two other men were stopped in York County, Pa. They were driving two pickup trucks loaded with 122 packages of marijuana with an estimated value of $2 million, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Penn Township Police Department.

Heath, who lives in Butte County, was arrested with two other Butte residents: his brother-in-law, Tyler Long, 31, and Ryan Falsone, 27, according to officials in Pennsylvania and California.

The arrests, part of a regional drug-trafficking investigation in Pennsylvania, are now creating chaos for the court systems in Yuba and Sutter counties. California authorities say Heath, an investigator since 2013 for the Yuba-Sutter NET-5 narcotics team, was involved in more than 60 drug cases and prosecutions.

Now many pending cases are being reviewed for potential dismissal, and convictions may be overturned, district attorneys in both counties say.

“We are looking at the cases where Heath was involved to determine whether or not the cases can be approved” and stand, Sutter County District Attorney Amanda Hopper said. “If he is the only investigator who can testify to the evidence, then the case may be tainted to such a degree we can’t proceed.”

Hopper said Heath was the lead investigator on 21 drug cases filed in Sutter County since 2013. In neighboring Yuba County, District Attorney Patrick McGrath said Heath was involved in 40 to 45 cases, about half involving marijuana raids or arrests.

THIS IS CATNIP FOR MARIJUANA DEFENSE LAWYERS. IT’S LIKE STRAIGHT VODKA. YOU JUST KNOW IT’S GOING TO BLOW IT ALL OPEN.
Heather Burke, Nevada City attorney representing a defendant in a Yuba County pot case

McGrath said numerous search warrants authored by Heath may be declared void. He said many cases the investigator worked haven’t gone to trial or no charges were filed. He didn’t know how many have resulted in convictions that now could be overturned.

“We want to identify what his role was and then send correspondence to the attorneys on the other side, saying, ‘This is the situation: Please review your files and bring whatever appropriate legal motions before the court,” McGrath said. “It could be a case where there is no impact on a conviction and it stands. Or it could be a situation where a conviction is reversed and the case is dismissed.”

The Yuba DA added: “Our goal is to get a handle on the cases in which he was the primary investigator and deal with those cases immediately.”

Some defense attorneys are already seizing upon Heath’s arrest to seek dismissal of cases.

“This is catnip for marijuana defense lawyers,” said Heather Burke, a Nevada City attorney who is representing a defendant in a Yuba County pot case. “It’s like straight vodka. You just know it’s going to blow it all open.”

The suspect in the case Burke is handling was arrested after a traffic stop and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana for sale. Burke, who questioned Heath in a November deposition, said the narcotics officer is a “material witness” who weighed and recorded some 30 pounds of pot seized at the stop. She has already contacted the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office to try to get charges dropped.

“Now that he has been caught in a clearly sophisticated drug operation,” Burke said of Heath, “I can’t imagine them taking this (Yuba) County case to trial.”

George Mull, a Sacramento attorney for medical marijuana advocacy groups and businesses, said Heath’s arrest stokes long-held suspicions in the cannabis community about rogue cops stealing pot in “smash and grab” raids on growers. “Perhaps some law enforcement officers are seizing cannabis not because they see it as a violation of law but to seize a valuable crop for their own benefit,” Mull said.

Hopper, the Sutter County district attorney, said authorities haven’t uncovered any evidence that the marijuana seized in Pennsylvania had been “confiscated in any investigation or drug bust” that Heath was involved with.

Hopper is the chair of the NET-5 drug enforcement team, which includes agents from the Yuba and Sutter sheriff’s departments, Yuba City police, California Highway Patrol and Sutter County probation department. As a result of Heath’s arrest, she said an audit is being requested by outside agencies into the entire operation of the NET-5 unit.

“This (arrest) raises concerns for the public as far as the integrity of our law enforcement officials,” Hopper said. “It’s something we need to address. We need to determine if this is an isolated incident. We’re not going to ignore the concerns the public has.”

York County, Pa., District Attorney Tom Kearney said Monday that Heath and his associates were involved in “a very sophisticated operation” to ship large volumes of marijuana. Authorities didn’t know Heath was a law enforcement officer until his arrest.

Along with sealed packages of marijuana and $11,000 in cash, the Pennsylvania authorities said they found Heath’s law enforcement badge and service weapon.

In California, authorities say a separate investigation is now underway by the Sheriff’s Office in Butte County, where the three suspects lived.

In Yuba County, Undersheriff Jerry Read said Heath was hired as a correctional officer in 2003 and promoted to deputy sheriff in 2007. According to public records, Heath earned $84,408.96 in salary and another $34,196.78 in benefits in 2014, the year after he was promoted to the narcotics enforcement team.

Read described Heath as “an average guy,” who was neither a decorated deputy nor a subject of discipline. He wasn’t under investigation in the counties where he worked, Read said.

“We are clearly disappointed, upset and angry,” the undersheriff said. “People ... will paint us with a broad brush because of the actions of one.”

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article53431480.html#storylink=cpy

 

[HL45]

I heard he was on paid vacation time while he was trying to move packs out east. I bet most of that herb was confiscated. Also heard he had his badge and gun with him while he got busted

 

[redlaser]

over 110 thousand a year for deputy sheriff? that's crazy. Someone is gonna turn in a greedy cop eventually if his spending habits don't get him first

 

[ButteCounty Guy]

So the Butte County Board of Supervisors, old grandma dudes that they are, fixed the anti grow ordinance so that they can lien properties to collect fines. This must be an opportunity to get a petition going and get a hold on the ordinance until the whole thing is voted on again. Its at least a chance. There is no question that the results at a June 7 special election would be closer than the measure A was. Has anyone heard of a person or group planning this?

 

[TriSierra]

So the Butte County Board of Supervisors, old grandma dudes that they are, fixed the anti grow ordinance so that they can lien properties to collect fines. This must be an opportunity to get a petition going and get a hold on the ordinance until the whole thing is voted on again. Its at least a chance. There is no question that the results at a June 7 special election would be closer than the measure A was. Has anyone heard of a person or group planning this?

Charnel Jones might be a good starting point - if she would ever respond to emails, cause she hasn't responded to mine.

Or Angelique Perez from the Yuba Citizens for Solvency group could help guide us in the correct direction.

 

[Foreverfamily]

If you have Facebook- Deborah Tharp, Sungrown in Shasta, Mickey Martin, Eric Salerno, Rick Fenton, Yuba patients coalition, some good peeps to follow lots of information.

tank, i cant seem to find YPC facebook page.. was it deleted?

 

[theJointedOne]

interesting how the county just admitted they are using leo and helicopter to file complaints...

article in the cnr

 

[ButteCounty Guy]

The new Initiative

The new Initiative

I was hoping that there would be an initiative to stop the new ordinances. I was at a local grow store, and there it was. I signed it immediately, but after reading it things seem hopeless. The initiative comes with a provision that gets rid of setbacks. Any idea that growers want to be good neighbors is now a fairy tale. Anyone who has seen the pictures of Thermalito where four out of five houses had gardens in a neighborhood with small backyards knows there are places where growing is inappropriate. This initiative will do little more than obfuscate the issue so that a realistic one hasn't got a chance.

 

[ApolloAK]

Colusa County just made medical marijuana procession ILLEGAL!!! How is this legal? I thought they could only ban cultivation, not completely shut off access. They plan to use the fines from medical marijuana patients to fund 2 new police cruisers

 

[Mountain Sprout]

They got the guns but we got the numbers?

They got the guns but we got the numbers?

I was hoping that there would be an initiative to stop the new ordinances. I was at a local grow store, and there it was. I signed it immediately, but after reading it things seem hopeless. The initiative comes with a provision that gets rid of setbacks. Any idea that growers want to be good neighbors is now a fairy tale. Anyone who has seen the pictures of Thermalito where four out of five houses had gardens in a neighborhood with small backyards knows there are places where growing is inappropriate. This initiative will do little more than obfuscate the issue so that a realistic one hasn't got a chance.

View Image

That reads pretty good to me. Setbacks keep mom and pop out of the game. People with 1 million $ can buy any property they need to comply with set backs. I trinity, for example, they are talking about 300' setbacks! to do that requires atleast 8 acres on a perfectly square parcel and hope dead center of that is where your garden is best suited for your particular property. We all need to be better neighbors to each other. What about making setbacks from the neighbors residence? Fences might be necessary some places but not everyshere, some places they are just another few thou. Are growers and their supporters the majority or not?
I personally know a guy that backed out of a 500,000 butte property with another 500k to back it up but just crossed it off his list of counties which is getting shorter and shorter.

 

[plastochron]

I was hoping that there would be an initiative to stop the new ordinances. I was at a local grow store, and there it was. I signed it immediately, but after reading it things seem hopeless. The initiative comes with a provision that gets rid of setbacks. Any idea that growers want to be good neighbors is now a fairy tale. Anyone who has seen the pictures of Thermalito where four out of five houses had gardens in a neighborhood with small backyards knows there are places where growing is inappropriate. This initiative will do little more than obfuscate the issue so that a realistic one hasn't got a chance.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=63059&pictureid=1552510View Image

I totally agree with you. As much as we would all love 100% no holds barred freedom to do whatever the fuck we want, it was that over-reaching, non-compromising approach that landed us with measure A in the first place... and even the 99 plant non-negotiable sticking point back then was way more conservative than this initiative.

On the other hand, the dickhead opposition seems very unlikely to compromise or negotiate regardless of what the requested terms are so might as well swing for the fences...

 

[ButteCounty Guy]

Apologies to mountain sprout, but as much as I wish mom and Pop could grow their own, if they live in a residential area, it is not OK to put a garden twenty feet from their neighbors patio, so they might want to look for a rural grower to take their script.

When the BOS changed the marijuana ordinance, Measure A is irrelevant. It does not refer to the new, changed ordinance. If we had an initiative that wasn't so controversial, we could collect signatures, win at the June 7 special election.

Sorry about the picture, couldn't get it to resize without losing resolution.

 

[theJointedOne]

Your saying measure a is null BC the bos changed the definition of marijuana?

 

[HeavilyTraded]

Yeah Mountain Sprout they want mom and pop as their customers they dont want them growing their own. It will be interesting to see what happens with this next president and if public perception is swayed.

 

[TriSierra]

People shouldn't be blowing up their backyards with grows. If you want to commercially cultivate you've got to be willing to invest, and it shouldn't come at the expense of your neighbors. 10 acres ain't expensive up here.

We need a rational initiative.