Appeals court overturns marijuana conviction after cops break into wrong person's home
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
A state appeals court has overturned a Daly City man's conviction for possessing marijuana plants that were found by police who mistakenly broke into his home looking for someone who had already moved out.
Officers who used outdated information to trace a distress call to Eric Rustrian's house "could have reasonably investigated further" before deciding to forcibly enter and search the home, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Wednesday.
... In the garage, police forced open a locked door and found about 100 marijuana plants and harvesting materials, the court said. Rustrian arrived soon afterward and told police he lived there and that the woman who owned the mobile phone had moved to Vallejo.
... But the appeals court said officers had no direct evidence that the woman lived there, or had made the call from the home, and could have done more to find out - for example, asking neighbors, and checking the woman's name in public records to see where she listed her residence.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Local-pot-bust-undone-after-cops-break-into-wrong-5691652.php