(CHP- Bridgeport Press Release) On Sunday, December 22, 2013, at approximately 2:00 P.M., a CHP officer assigned to the CHP Bridgeport Office made a traffic stop on a white, 2009 Chrysler 300 for multiple vehicle code violations on US-395, northbound, just south of South Landing Road. The officer contacted the three individuals in the vehicle and notified the driver of the reason for the stop. The officer immediately recognized the odor of fresh marijuana emitting from the vehicle.
The officer conducted a probable cause search and located in excess of a quarter pound of processed marijuana packaged in several vacuum sealed bags. Ronald Ricky Moore, Jr, a passenger in the vehicle, claimed possession of all marijuana within the vehicle and presented a doctor’s recommendation for marijuana. After questioning Moore, the officer determined that the amount of marijuana possessed by Moore grossly exceeded any reasonable “medical necessity”.
The amount of marijuana, combined with the packaging, led the officer to believe Moore intended to make the marijuana available for sale. Moore was subsequently arrested for multiple felony and misdemeanor charges related to controlled substances and booked into the Mono County Main Jail in Bridgeport. The driver of the vehicle was cited for the vehicle code violations and released. During the investigation additional information was developed demonstrating Moore’s planned sales of the marijuana in his possession. Lieutenant R. D. Cohan, Commander Bridgeport Area, stated “This is the second time in two weeks local CHP officers have made what many consider to be a routine traffic stop during the early afternoon hours on US-395 which resulted in a felony drug arrest. Arrests like these demonstrate the need for professional, aggressive law enforcement in Mono County.”
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When federal prohibition legislation was passed, effective enforcement of the ban during the Prohibition Era proved difficult and the law was widely flouted. Without a solid popular consensus for its enforcement, Prohibition led to some unintended consequences and its ultimate repeal in 1933: the growth of criminal organizations, including the modern American Mafia and various other criminal groups, disregard of federal law, and corruption among some politicians and within law enforcement.
To Big Rick O’Brien
That is my New Years wish for Mono County!!! How did you know???? Lol
Hope he takes the other at will employee with him, so the department can possibly go back to a respectable Law abiding department!
As with the most popular (and legal) recreational drug, alcohol, most people are responsible users. But there will always be those who overdo everything. When too stoned, you go to sleep – when too drunk, you’re mind goes numb and you crash your car. Legalize pot and go to work outlawing booze.
I think we saw that outlawing booze didn’t work. It also doesn’t work to outlaw marijuana. Abuse of prescription pills is rampant also. Apparently humans have a need to medicate, at least some humans. I think all we can do is keep the most dangerous and addictive ones illegal (meth…not sure which other ones) and enforce no driving impaired (impaired that is, as in unsafe to operate a vehicle. ie under the influence does not automatically equal impaired) laws. If we can make a dent in the illegal drug trade, that would be a huge benefit.
It’s really a tough issue. Some people don’t drink or toke at all. Some can do it rarely or lightly. Others use alcohol and pot everyday…some of those can work full time and do just fine. Others lose motivation, have absenteeism issues, and in general suffer a downward influence on their lives from alcohol and pot. Based on those people, I want to say ‘ban it all’. But its just not working.
What a worm…..
Yes Virginia marijuana will be legalized in California. As California falls so goes the rest of the nation. The tobacco companies already have the warehouses ready to produce a standardized product with a regulated THC content and registered trademarks. Where big business is so is the government. Regulations and laws to protect the consumer and the profits of the tobacco industry. Will law enforcement go away….hardly, no utopia for the pot smoker, only stiffer penalties. Standardized driving under the influence tests, consumer warnings on the marijuana cigarettes, along with filters to keep those nasty cancer causing toxins out of your lungs. Transporting pounds of marijuana that you grew….I don’t think so, that would be bootlegging, and under the jurisdiction of the Federal Internal Revenue Service. What would a pack of of Ten cigarettes cost…twenty -five dollars? Smoking in public…maybe in a designated area out by the dumpsters or maybe in a designated smoking house. I say legalize it, tax it, regulate it, and enforce it!
……meanwhile many others in the pharmaceutical industry are profiting (and somebody is getting RICH for sure) from the millions of deaths and drug addicted people of the world that pharmaceutical drugs are resposible for.
Our society is messed up man!
This medical marijuana is a complete joke, sure there are some that it may help,, but most of these people with their precious medical marijuana cards are just plain potheads.. So give me all your thumbs down I really don’t care…This country has gone down the toilet…
Yes Roy! I agree, it has gone down the toilet, and we have a serious clog in the sewer main that all of our toilets are bound to back up with the mess we continue to perpetuate, I mean who can say we are a country of United States? we are so divided and polarized, it literally hurts!
But unlike some, I don’t blame the people of this country for why it is the way it is, I would say it has gone down the toilet because the established powers do all they can to hold on to there power.. all circled around the monetary and market system, powered by the current PLUTOCRACY! not the Democracy/Republic that was created to be for the people by the people.
It has gone down the toilet because simple rights like freedom of speech, rights to privacy and liberty have been perverted to levels that dismantle the true definition, I will keep referencing to the supreme court case back in 1976 (buckley V. Valeo), because that was when money was ruled it equals freedom of speech, and since then, money has been used to AMPLIFY certain voices over others, you know like giving someone a megaphone at a public square…..
Its gone down the toilet because our rights have gone down the toilet!
Wait I’m not done, another way this country has gone the drain, is we have outside corporations/industries (trans canada) training our state police forces where applicable, to make out environmental activists as possible terrorists, if you haven’t seen that I suggest you change your news or media outlet. So I see it as another proven indication that the gov’t doesn’t work for the people, our gov’t works for the multi national corporations that give them campaign donations, that pay lobbyists that convince legislators to write new legislation in the donors favor..
Now I am trying to find the connection where potheads come into play in all that? But sure, blame the potheads.
All you have to do is look at the names of the marijuana “dispensaries” to know it is a sham. I like the one in Mojave called “Chronically Inclined”. “Medical” marijuana my aching backside! Just a bunch of lousy potheads looking for even the weakest excuse to justify their addiction.
Let me get this straight desert tortoise, You are willing to take away the benefits of this miracle drug away from those who actually need it, in the name of proving how medical marijuana is a sham and only a excuse for addicts to justify there addictions?
Serious question Desert, and yes this is a miracle drug, look outside the american propaganda and look at the study’s overseas from accredited scholars that prove the beneficial science and healing practices that are within that one single plant, that same plant that takes so much of our law enforcement’s time and resources.
The way this medicine can take away one little kids pain from any one of those chronic illnesses that marijuana successfully treats, to me that seems like a good enough trade off to not care what anybody else does with it, because the positives do out weigh the negatives by a mile!
The CHP officer is ingnorant of Prop 215
Under Prop. 215, patients are entitled to whatever amount of marijuana is necessary for their personal medical use. However, patients are likely to be arrested if they exceed the SB 420 guidelines. SB420 sets a baseline statewide guideline of 6 mature or 12 immature plants, and 1/2 pound (8 oz.) processed cannabis per patient. Individual cities and counties are allowed to enact higher, but not lower, limits than the state standard.
This time next year, the Sheriff may well have to hire a admitted pot smoker. Sort like are last three and a half Presidents.
Trouble…..So your thinking it will become a “requirement” that private employers, Federal Government,State Government,and local Government agencies will have to hire,and keep employees that are pot smokers?…just ANOTHER post that shows my statement about”pushing the buttons” that I mention…pushing the buttons even before the buttons are there to push.Under your theory,does that mean we’ll have the “right” to ask an LE officer to do a “sobriety test” themselves if we happen to get pulled over by them …making sure they are competent to be issuing citations or warnings?
No Wayne, but I don’t think they will be able to exclude pot smokers.
As I business owner I don’t want my employees smoking pot on the job so I voted against complete legalization.
As with immigration there is already a legal path to use marijuana. Only criminals choose not to take the legal paths.
So Mark, you seem to be saying that because alcohol is legal, your employees can drink on the job.
I’m going to guess that is not the case. Why would it be ok for pot to be used at work if it were legal?
I do not support drinking on the job either. It wasn’t defined well enough in the work place for me to support it. It was the use of the word “medical” that seperated it from alcohol in the work place.
Trouble…this time next year, the current Mono Sheriff won’t BE Sheriff any more.
I like that idea Big Rick. Bishop got a new DA.
All the above statements really fall under the new generations of “mine” and “it’s all about me and everyone else is wrong.” First, law enforcement could really care less if marijuana is legalized. I don’t use weed, but yeah, let’s get it over with in this liberal state and just legalize it. Let’s tax the heck out of it and climb out of debt in our local and state governments. Let’s legalize it and take away the largest grossing product from the cartels.
Second, this CHP Officer was doing his job; none of you knuckleheads have a clue what that is about. So what if he determined a quarter pound is more than personal use. If the judge reverses that decision and dismisses the case, who cares? That is how our system works. The funny thing is this moron’s weed will be dry as crap when the case finally gets dismissed….so oh well. Good on this CHP Officer….thank you for doing the work that millions of others are not willing. Some of us taxpayers are still appreciative. Merry Christmas folks.
So what you are telling us is ” it’s all about me and everybody else is wrong.” Got it!
You know I agree with most of what you said Seriously? But I have to say when you pat somebody on the back just for doing a their job, you have to take into account that giving blind dedication to supposed authorities is how a lot of atrocities in the past where carried out, you know the forces that were just doing their job, Just think how many people had gone through stress and heart break because it was or is illegal, when we all know if booze is legal it makes no sense to have weed illegal..or all the wasted money to combat a plant, when progress in those fights are seldom scene, yes of course they are just doing their job, but so where the Nazi’s or the Calvary men that came to the valley and marched the Natives to fort tejon, They were just doing there job, and us knuckle heads don’t know what that is about…
You know those private prisons or the Corrections Corporation of America have a interest in keeping it illegal, they have a profit incentive in it, just follow the money, or “dark money” as it is referred to….
I don’t just pat anybody on the back for doing there job; I salute cops for doing their job because we both know you are not willing or capable of doing the job along with millions of other Americans.
I could care less if weed was legal or not; like I said, legalize and tax it heavily. I don’t know where you are getting your information that prisons and corrections make money of weed; if anything when it is legal to purchase it lessen illegal profits because of easier access.
“The funny thing is this moron’s weed will be dry as crap when the case finally gets dismissed”
From what I know Mono County has yet to give back any weed they have confiscated. And the people I know who had it taken from them had a legal right to have it returned but they weren’t man enough to ask for it back, and I’m speaking of the guys who had the grow room in the basement in long valley. They failed to exercise their rights and demand the pot was returned. That was several years ago when LEO’s said “there’s no prop215 in Mono county”. Boy were they wrong.
When it does happen I hope someone videos the deputy handing over the stash then uploads it to youtube.
“Seriously?” is the type of person that really puts shame to the US Constitution. He’s basically saying that it’s okay for Law Enforcement to arrest people whom fall in the gray area of the law because the “judge reverses the decision and dismisses the case”. That’s kind of like saying, “Well, you’re not a terrorist, but we’re going to collect all of your phone records anyway, just in case. Or “you’re not mentally nuts, but we’re going to take your right to bare arms away, just in case.”
This is exactly the type of unconstitutional rhetoric that brings us to the police state we’re living in today. If it was a family member of his arrested, I’m sure he’d be singing a very different tune.
The way the U.S. has held prisoners in Guantanamo without due process is also a violation of our constitution. BK
Sometimes I don’t even know what to say to some of the posts and responses on here. Chris, I guess you misinterpreted what I stated. I did not say the officer based his arrest on the fact the judge may dismiss the case….the officer made a determination within the laws of the state. A judge may make a different determination or agree with the officer; either way that is our system: live with it.
And yes, there is a large gray area in our justice system. Sometimes criminals get off because it is too gray and sometimes they get arrested. If there is anyone on this posting who cares for the United States Constituion, it is me. I have had a family member arrested for much worse; he got caught bringing cocaine across the border. My reaction: Oh well, he shouldn’t be breaking the law. No sweat off my back.
Is this “Flat-Foot” a Medical Doctor? Please Show Me your License to practice Medicine, officer? So he determined that the amount of marijuana possessed by More grossly exceeded any reasonable? sounds like the officers feel that Their jobs and Pension Funds are threatened by the Legalization of “Marijuana” Yes The Prison Industrial Complex Does Feel Threatened by the New Era of Freedom being expressed in the Home of the Brave Land of the Free 🙂
State law permits up to eight ounces to be in one’s possession for medical uses. More is permitted if the “prescription” specifically states a larger amount is necessary to treat whatever ailes the “patient”. If you bother to actually read the law instead of just speculating out of ignorance you might find the cop actually had a very good reason to arrest the perp.
DT,
If you actually read the article instead of just speculating out of ignorance you might find out that a quarter pound is less than eight ounces.
And to all a good night!
The wording is “in excess of a quarter pound of processed marijuana”.
You don’t think if it had been a half pound the article wouldn’t have said “a half pound of processed marijuana”?
You nailed it….
It is all about their future HUGE Pension funds being threatend.
The government pension ponzy system will eventually implode.
Govt. Gone wild…
My defense lawyer would ask the officer how he determined that a ¼ pound was grossly exceeding any reasonable “medical necessity”. and I would enjoy watching the officer attempt to answer the question.
My defense lawyer would also claim the medical marijuana was of different strains and that is why it is stored in separate bags.
Anyone that has a medical marijuana card that doesn’t hire a lawyer when accused of wrong doing regarding medical marijuana shouldn’t be given the card in the first place. Precedence needs to be set and that is only done in court.
But then I would never be in this situation as I would never let anyone smoke mj in my vehicle.
Mark,
Note “odor of fresh marijuana”. Driver should make it clear that there is no consent to search and card should have been presented BEFORE search. At that point everybody should say NOTHING without lawyer present. “Investigation” was probably self incrimination while trying to talk their way out of it. Officer had already made decision and nothing you say will ever help.
My mode of operation has always been give them no reason to want to search. Once they’ve smelled weed it is probably best to cooperate, but then it puts us in the position of some dumb cop saying ” the amount of marijuana possessed grossly exceeded any reasonable “medical necessity”.
My girlfriend will probably not live another five years do to her medical condition. She is exactly who Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 was made into law for.
NOBODY IS SPECULATING OUT OF IGNORANCE BUT THE COP WHO SAID; the amount of marijuana possessed grossly exceeded any reasonable “medical necessity”.
Mark….In you and your girlfriends case,your correct saying it’s what prop 215 was meant and intended for….not what it’s turned out to be…if I were you or your girlfriend,it would insult me with what some try to make it….my bet is if you were pulled over by LE and had a large ammount of weed with you,was honest about it,and explained your situation,you’d be driving away without an arrest or citation….
Mark, so sorry to hear about your girlfriend. I pray you get to spend a lot more than five years with her. Hope the holidays are joyful for you both.
Mark…That’s a lot of expensive hoops to be jumping through so you and your girlfriend can cook up a quarter pound of weed per week for your “medical necessities”….and then having to hope for a jury full of pot-heads to dismiss your case.Whoever is for total legalization of weed,or on the bubble to vote yeah or nay, should do the following…especially the older 40-50 year old voters….buy an eighth of good-grade marijuana..the kind you can smell through a double-baggie….around $ 40-50,I believe….get yourself a cheap $20.00 bong…and take a few hits…..now,about 20 minutes later,ask yourself some questions…Would you want your teen-age son or daughter to be doing what you just did on a regular,legal basis ?….or want your kids to hang around people that do it everyday?…would you want your 15 year old daughter to go out on a date with someone that does it,or wanting your daughter to be doing it with them while on the date,and coming home all silly and smelling like weed?..would you want them to be driving a vehicle after doing it ?….if you found out your daughter’s date had done this,would you want her to “go out” with him again?….or hang around his crowd of fellow pot-smokers in some loud,dirty smelly basement ?…would you develop respect for this new boyfriend if he flashed a med-card,saying it’s O.K. for him to do,because of his dire medical conditions,and nothing Law Enforcement can do about it ?..I could go on and on,but it’s Christmas morning,and promised my 2 dogs I was gonna take them for a walk at our local lake….
I don’t participate in the cooking or eating. when you’ve live with someone who you see in pain daily and you also see how mj helps you tend to open your mind about pot.
I’ll my kids are college educated, married, have good jobs and have never put themselves in the situation this guy did.
I still have a problem with the cop thinking he’s a doctor.
“the officer determined that the amount of marijuana possessed by Moore grossly exceeded any reasonable “medical necessity”.
Lawyer up. The officer is not a doctor. My girlfriend could go through that in a week baking in the kitchen.
s
They are given specific training about what quantities of pot are legal under state law. It is not all up to officer discretion.
yes, I’m sure they do.
It’s comical to hear the CHP say; “…demonstrate the need for professional, aggressive law enforcement in Mono County.”
PU-LEASE!
What could be more aggressive than the way it has already been for the past 10+ years? The mid-day Burning Man “License Check” in late August was evidence enough of local law enforcements “Aggressive behavior.”
The CHP should be ashamed of themselves; I do not support this behavior.
Arrests like these demonstrate the need for professional, aggressive law enforcement in Mono County.”
This is not an excuse to justify more aggressive law enforcement.
Two states already have made it legal.
Eighteen states have legal medical pot laws.
There are ten states including California that will have legalize pot initiatives on the ballots next year.
This is what is happening in in America today. The “war on pot” is failing it has cost the country billions of wasted tax dollars.
It is time to stop failed polices of the past.
Sounds like the cops don’t like the new laws to me.
…And there they go with that “trying to push the buttons” thing I was mentioning in another recent story…Mr.Moore ,the passenger,claiming ownership of all that weed,and thinking by flashing that “medical marijuana”card,never mind the fact it was (allegedly)packaged for sales,which looks like the evidence gathered showed it was….allegedly…Mr.Moore figured by flashing that card,the CHP officers would look at it,smile….apologize……and send them on their merry way,with no arrests or citations….SUPRISE !!!!!….multiple misdemeanors and felonies….vehicle code violations….a trip to the Mono County Motel…AND,to top it all off, losing over a quarter pound of weed in the process…not a good day for these (alleged) dealers…It would be intresting to see what vehicle code violations these geniuses’ were driving with while they were (allegedly) transporting dope,warranting the stop in the first place….
Wayne,
I’m beginning to think you’re just trying to avoid jury duty.
Pedro…LOL…Some might see this as giving out “too much information”…..but since you mentioned it,I do get out of my jury duty responsibilities when I’m called…..but not for this reason….when I get my jury duty statement,I’m able to get out of it by listing my doctor….the reason….up until recently,I had a really bad case of hemorrhoids,which made sitting in a hard,or soft chair for a long period of time VERY uncomfortable,and bad enough to where I had to miss work because of it and be spending half my day in a hot bathtub…but now,with that situation all but cleared up,thankfully,still a legitiment reason to use when I’m called,as to not wanting to trigger another episode,especially if I happen to be sitting on a jury for 6 or 8 hours in an important criminal case….in an uncomfortable chair.But your right…I doubt a defendant charged with a drug offense would want to be seeing me in that jury box,and one to be deciding if he were guilty or innocent…..
Wayne, TMI (too much information!)
Benett
Merry Christmas,Benett…..and all the other posters here….
Merry Christmas, Wayne!
BK
Give me a break
Are they that hard up to make a bust…
Too many cops with nothing to do
Your tax dollars hard at work protecting the sheeple
Cops gone wild