On The Front Lines
District Court Judge Finds Guilty Virginia Man Subjected to Helicopter Surveillance, Unwarranted SWAT-Team Raid of His 39-Acre Property
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Judge William G. Barkley of the Albemarle County General District Court has found guilty a Virginia man charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession after a SWAT team, aided by military helicopter surveillance and acting without a search warrant, allegedly found two marijuana stalks growing among weeds on his 39-acre property. In a ruling handed down today, Philip Cobbs of Albemarle County was found guilty of simple possession of marijuana. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute will appeal the district court's decision on Fourth Amendment grounds, specifically challenging the legality of the search, given that at no time was Cobbs shown a search warrant by the police or read his Miranda rights, as well as the court's refusal to suppress evidence obtained during the warrantless search.
"I find it incredible that the court summarily rejected the central issue in this case, which is the fact that the police entered a man’s private property without a search warrant," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "It's as if the Constitution doesn't exist. This is a sad day for the Fourth Amendment."
Philip Cobbs, a 53-year-old former teacher who cares for his blind, deaf 90-year-old mother, lives on a 39-acre tract of land in eastern Albemarle County that has been in his family since the 1860s. On the morning of July 26, 2011, while spraying the blueberry bushes near his Virginia house, Cobbs noticed a black helicopter circling overhead. After watching the helicopter for several moments, Cobbs went inside to check on his mother. By the time he returned outside, several unmarked police SUVs had driven onto his property, and police in flak jackets, carrying rifles and shouting unintelligibly, had exited the vehicles and were moving toward him. The police officers claimed they had sighted marijuana plants growing on Cobbs' property and ordered Cobbs at gun point to produce them. Distressed and intimidated by the show of force, Cobbs indicated his lack of knowledge about any marijuana plants on his property. In response, one of the police officers radioed up to the helicopter, which then directed the officer to an area in the yard where an oak tree had fallen. Within the limbs of the fallen tree and an adjoining bush were two plants protruding, which the officers claimed were the alleged marijuana plants.
The police then asked to search Cobbs' greenhouse, which Institute attorneys contend was their prime objective from the start. The search of the greenhouse, which Cobbs had used that spring to start tomato plants, cantaloupes, and watermelons, as well as asters and hollyhocks, turned up nothing more than used tomato seedling containers. According to Cobbs, the state agent subsequently remarked that the state was not interested in prosecuting two marijuana plants. Cobbs was not charged at that time, and inquiries to the police officer on the scene went unanswered.
However, over a month later, Cobbs received a summons charging him with possession of marijuana under Va. Code § 18.2-250.1. That statute provides that "ownership or occupancy of the premises or vehicle upon or in which marijuana was found shall not create a presumption that such person either knowingly or intentionally possessed such marijuana."
Affiliate attorney Ned Michie of Charlottesville, Va., assisted The Rutherford Institute in defending Cobbs.
