Results 1 to 9 of 9
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    4

    Default Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Pennsylvania

    I was caught by my landlord and her husband for having 4 marijuana plants which I was watching for a friend. She did not call the police. Instead she told me to get rid of them and I immediately did, but not before she snapped a picture of the operation. Weeks later she has sent me a $1700 bill for painting, ceiling tile replacement etc. Everything on the bill is ridiculous. The apartment is in the same condition when I moved in. She thinks she can use the picture against me to get me to pay the $1700 for violating the lease agreement. Can she use the picture as evidence in court? I heard she is technically an accomplice to the crime for not calling the police, is this true? Is it worth it for me to fight this case or just pay the bill?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    I was caught by my landlord and her husband for having 4 marijuana plants which I was watching for a friend. She did not call the police. Instead she told me to get rid of them and I immediately did, but not before she snapped a picture of the operation. Weeks later she has sent me a $1700 bill for painting, ceiling tile replacement etc. Everything on the bill is ridiculous. The apartment is in the same condition when I moved in.
    Can you prove that? Do you have move-in, move-out inspection inventories or photos?

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    She thinks she can use the picture against me to get me to pay the $1700 for violating the lease agreement. Can she use the picture as evidence in court?
    Yes.

    If she's claiming that the costs are being incurred to remove the smell of marijuana smoke from the apartment, the picture is compelling evidence that you were a marijuana user.

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    I heard she is technically an accomplice to the crime for not calling the police, is this true?
    No, that's not true.

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    Is it worth it for me to fight this case or just pay the bill?
    That has to be entirely up to you.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    So what does one charge to be a weed babysitter? ROFL

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    adjusterjack- Thank you so much for your response, you have been extremely helpful. I do not have move-in photos and I am currently still living here. I am not a marijuana user nor was there ever smoking in the apartment. There is no damage to anything in the apartment. I can pass a drug test if necessary. I don't understand how she can use the photo in court as it does not prove anything. The plants could have been made of rubber for all a viewer of the image knows. There is not a spec of evidence otherwise. I know I messed up by letting a good friend of mine convince me into letting him keep his plants at my place, but I believe my landlord also messed up by not calling the police immediately. Regarding my last question, it is a matter of price to me. Do you believe I have a winnable case? If so will the court costs, etc. cost more than $1700? Thank you.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    but I believe my landlord also messed up by not calling the police immediately
    Private individuals, unless in certain occupations having to do with vulnerable populations, have no legal obligation to report crimes to police. You on the other hand, DO have the obligation to not make yourself a party to a criminal enterprise.


    She thinks she can use the picture against me to get me to pay the $1700 for violating the lease agreement.
    Check your lease. What she probably CAN use the photos for is to ask the court to terminate your lease due to the criminal activity and have you evicted.





    Do you believe I have a winnable case?

    You don't have a case for anything, since you have no damages. There's nothing for you to sue FOR. Your options at this point are to either pay the bill, or don't pay the bill. If you pay it, the landlord may STILL seek eviction due to the illegal activity. If you don't pay it, then the landlord would be the one to bring a case against you, for eviction, or any damages she thinks she can prove (the burden would be on her to prove damages), or both.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    I do not have move-in photos
    Then I suggest you start taking dated digital photos of every inch of the place, just on general principles. Digital cameras are cheap.


    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    I am currently still living here.
    Then it's very strange that she's giving you a bill while you still live there and, presumably, before the costs have actually been incurred.

    Answer a couple of questions.

    Do you have a written lease?

    If yes, when does it expire?

    If no, then you are on month to month.

    Did you pay a security deposit when you moved in?

    If yes, how much?

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    I am not a marijuana user nor was there ever smoking in the apartment. There is no damage to anything in the apartment. I can pass a drug test if necessary. I don't understand how she can use the photo in court as it does not prove anything. The plants could have been made of rubber for all a viewer of the image knows. There is not a spec of evidence otherwise.
    When something gets into court anybody can present anything as "evidence", subject to proper foundation and admissability.

    Whether it actually "proves" anything is up to the court to decide.

    If she claims that the costs are necessary due to a marijuana smell then the photo could create a rebuttable presumption that there was marijuana smoking going on. You would then have to prove otherwise.

    If she claims that the costs are necessary for other reasons, then the photo of the marijuana plants, while possibly admissable, would not prove the necessity for the costs.

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    I know I messed up by letting a good friend of mine convince me into letting him keep his plants at my place,
    You got that right.

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    I believe my landlord also messed up by not calling the police immediately.
    No, she didn't. 1 - Because she had no obligation to do so and 2 - you can thank your diety that she didn't because you would have been prosecuted for possession. Police never believe "I was holding it for a friend." And your friend would be unlikely to come forward and incriminate himself. Druggies make horrible "friends." They'll throw you under the bus to save their own butts.

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    Regarding my last question, it is a matter of price to me. Do you believe I have a winnable case? If so will the court costs, etc. cost more than $1700? Thank you.
    Let's defer that question until you answer my questions above.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    Thank you once again for your response.

    So hypothetically if I were to have killed someone instead of growing plants, and she witnessed it and instead of calling the police she just told me to get rid of the body, and she wanted to charge me for something ridiculous for violating the lease... Would she then be an accomplice to the crime for not calling the police because murder is more serious than growing a plant? They are both federal crimes though. I'm just confused.

    I am currently in my 3rd year of college and the end of the semester is in a few weeks. Getting evicted is the least of my worries as I can live with my girlfriend. What I am worried about is having a record, which is currently clean.

    And regarding a winnable case, It said on the bill that if it was not paid within 7 days that it would go to court. I do not have a reason to sue her for anything. My main question is, based on the information I have given you, what would a judge say?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post
    Thank you once again for your response.

    So hypothetically if I were to have killed someone instead of growing plants, and she witnessed it and instead of calling the police she just told me to get rid of the body, and she wanted to charge me for something ridiculous for violating the lease... Would she then be an accomplice to the crime for not calling the police because murder is more serious than growing a plant? They are both federal crimes though. I'm just confused.
    Let's not do the apples to oranges hypotheticals. They are an annoying waste of time and accomplish nothing.

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post

    I am currently in my 3rd year of college and the end of the semester is in a few weeks. Getting evicted is the least of my worries as I can live with my girlfriend. What I am worried about is having a record, which is currently clean.
    OK.

    Quote Quoting Chuckar00
    View Post

    And regarding a winnable case, It said on the bill that if it was not paid within 7 days that it would go to court. I do not have a reason to sue her for anything. My main question is, based on the information I have given you, what would a judge say?
    A judge would look at her and say prove it.

    Frankly, I can't see that, at this point, it's anything but a bluff.

    But if she takes you to court, you defend.

    You might want to study the landlord tenant statute:

    http://www.thelpa.com/PA_landlord_tenant_act.pdf

    Meantime, you haven't answered my questions.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Got Caught Growing Marijuana

    Do you have a written lease?
    I do, but I seem to have misplaced it somewhere.

    If yes, when does it expire?
    It expires at the end of may I believe.

    If no, then you are on month to month.
    I paid for rent by the semester. This semester has already been paid for. When school lets out I have no intentions of living here anymore.

    Did you pay a security deposit when you moved in?

    If yes, how much?
    I did, it was $300. My landlord told me that if i paid the bill and there was nothing else wrong with the apartment, then i would receive the security deposit back.

    If she claims that the costs are necessary due to a marijuana smell then the photo could create a rebuttable presumption that there was marijuana smoking going on. You would then have to prove otherwise.
    Would a lab conducted drug test prove otherwise?

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Similar Threads

  1. Roommates: Cotenant Growing Marijuana Plants
    By chuck17 in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 09-17-2010, 02:54 PM
  2. Drug Manufacture / Cultivation: Caught Growing Six Marijuana Plants, Outdoors
    By SleeplessinBoston in forum Criminal Charges
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 08-03-2010, 07:38 PM
  3. Drug Manufacture / Cultivation: Roommates Are Growing Marijuana, and I Want Them Out
    By InSirenWaters in forum Criminal Charges
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 07-30-2009, 03:27 AM
  4. Drug Manufacture / Cultivation: Growing Medical Marijuana While Living with Somebody Who is On Probation
    By JullianO in forum Criminal Charges
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 03-05-2009, 03:28 PM
  5. Drug Manufacture / Cultivation: I Was Growing Marijuana, Law Enforcement Found It
    By cire^one in forum Criminal Charges
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 07-01-2008, 01:20 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources