CRIMINAL PROCEDURE I

Professor Moskovitz

MIDTERM EXAM

Monday, March 20, 2000, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

To: My law clerk
From: Judge Solomon King

Dave Dripp (D) has been charged with growing marijuana. Dripp's attorney moved to suppress some growing equipment (hoses, fertilizer, etc.) that was found by San Francisco Police Officer Nick Nark in Dripp's basement. Please tell me whether I should grant the motion.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Nark testified as follows:

Q: Officer Nark, what led you to go to Dripp's home on the evening of November 23?

A: One of my informants told me that Dripp was growing marijuana in his basement at his San Francisco home, through "hydroponic gardening" - which I knew involves lots of water and artificial lights. He said that Dripp had just harvested a crop and was selling it that night at 8 o'clock to a guy who would come by Dripp's house driving a red Toyota. I went out to Dripp's house at about 7 that night. I was still in uniform.

Q: What happened when you got there?

A: I saw a drain pipe leading from his basement to the street, and water was coming out of it. The basement was brightly lit, more than the rest of the house. I hid behind a bush. At 7:30, a red Toyota drove up and honked. Dripp came out of the house carrying a large shopping bag. He gave it to the driver, who put it in the trunk. The driver then gave some money to Dripp. I came out and arrested them both. Dripp then yelled out, "Mom!" As I was putting them in my police car, an older woman came to the open doorway and said, "What?" Dripp said, "Look! You know what to do." The woman then rushed back into the house. I quickly locked them in the police car and ran to the basement door. It wasn't locked, so I went in and grabbed the growing equipment in the basement just as Dripp's mother was coming down the inside stairs. She said, "Come on in and take what you like, Officer. I'm fed up with that boy." After I put the growing equipment in my police car, I went into the trunk of the Toyota and found the shopping bag. It was full of marijuana.