Dean v. Superior Court

Opinion

FRIEDMAN, J.

According to evidence before the Grand Jury of Nevada County, a letter from an anonymous informant tipped off the authorities to the possibility of commercial marijuana cultivation in an isolated area of the Sierra foothills, an activity hidden from view by the surrounding hills and woods. The county sheriff dispatched an airplane and a deputy to the general area indicated by the informant. On its first “pass” the plane flew at an altitude of 700 feet. Among the trees the deputy saw a sizeable green patch near a dirt road. From a second pass, at an altitude of 400 to 500…