Judge reinstates murder charge against alleged pot grower

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Mon, Nov. 29, 2004


Judge reinstates murder charge against alleged pot grower

By Jacqueline Soteropoulos
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER


Overturning the decision of a lower court judge, a Common Pleas Court judge today ordered a Port Richmond man to stand trial on charges of third-degree murder in connection with the deaths of two firefighters who died battling a blaze sparked by an indoor marijuana hothouse.

Judge Benjamin Lerner ruled that the case should proceed, in order to let a jury determine whether Daniel Brough knowingly and recklessly created a situation where a deadly fire could break out.Lerner said he was swayed by Brough's alleged notations in his journal and by testimony today from Brough's stepson.

On Aug. 4, two weeks before the fatal fire, Brough allegedly wrote about the plants: "Had to bend them all over. Too tall... they are hitting the glass. Then the buds are burning. Don't want that to happen."

Brough's 19-year-old stepson, Daniel Rivera, testified today about the layout of the cluttered basement.

Lerner ruled that jury could decide whether Brough, by building the hothouse in the jammed basement - 24 feet away from the only exit - recklessly disregarded the lives of the firefighters.
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http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/10296557.htm
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[SheepyMcSheepster]

1. sure would be nice if pot could just be grown outside legally

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. If they win this case, everyone with a chip pan fire better watch out

In case the fireman splashes himself.

[MindPilot]

3. so then if I got drunk and left something on the stove

which set my house ablaze and a firefighter lost his life, I could be charged with "disregarding the life of a firefighter?"

Has the word "accident" been sent down the memory hole?

[jayfish]

4. There Is No Such Thing As An...

accident in this country unless you are in the top 1%. For the rest of us it's off to jail. It's been like that for awhile now and everyone has their pet cause to stoke the flames of incarceration even higher.

Jay

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. Not quite.

>so then if I got drunk and left something on the stove

That's not knowingly creating a hazardous situation, really. Sounds like this guy *knew* he was doing something dangerous, and did it anyway .

[ooglymoogly]

7. in bushes murka he was doing something very dangerous

just growing the stuff. and thats what they are really getting him for in bushes murka. if he were growing philodendron or some plant to make holy water that caught fire this would not be in the courts and if it was it would not be such a big thing as this.

[da_chimperor]

10. It depends on what he meant by burning

IMO he was referring to the buds being damaged by the heat from the lights, like burning something in a pan over the stove.

[0rganism]

5. What kind of nut *writes* about his pot plants?

If you live in the Netherlands or Canada, its probably okay. But not in Bush's America, oh goodness no. Maybe if you write in a distant past tense, like, "Decades ago, I had to bend them all over, as they began to reach the lights."

Now this bloke is going to be bending over for 20-to-life.

[maxsolomon]

8. this is absurd

but this is america, so its all good.

if there were some way to make rape a mandatory part of a prison sentence, i'm sure 50 state legislatures would approve it immediately.

can't be soft on crime!

[coreystone]

9. Without comment regarding the conditions which lead to the blaze...

I would care to offer sympathy to the families of the two fireman who gave their lives to perform the duties which they had taken upon themselves.

:-(

[dArKeR]

11. Rush Limbutt is then accessory to murder because his purchasing gave his

dealers profits which allowed the dealers to expand in which some of their new customers, when high, committed murders.

And then what about the xanax which Noel Bush gave to her friends who then went and committed crimes? This would mean that Jeb Bush is also an accessory to these crimes since he knew of her drug use and methods she used to obtain drugs.