JUDGE WANTS MORE BRIEFINGS ON POT CULTIVATION CASE

A Fort Collins couple cited an illegal search and their medical
marijuana registration as reasons a judge should dismiss charges
against them for marijuana cultivation.

Nicole and Alexander Baatsen said Larimer County Sheriff's Office
investigators illegally searched their south Fort Collins home in
2007 when they ignored Nicole Baatsen's comments denying them access
to the home.

Sheriff's investigators searched the home Sept. 21 after surveying
the home several times, sheriff's investigator Josh Sheldon said in
court Wednesday.

Investigators said they had probable cause to search the house when
the couple opened the door and the smell of raw marijuana wafted out.

Sheriff's investigators said they did not have a search warrant but
had received written and verbal consent to search the house from
Alexander Baatsen upon their arrival at the Baatsens' home. They said
they received no verbal refusal from Nicole Baatsen.

"At no point did Miss Baatsen say 'don't search my house,' " Sheldon
testified in court.

Nicole Baatsen did not sign a consent form and did not give her
husband consent to speak for her, the defense argued.

"A woman's home is her castle, too," the couple's attorney Robert
Corry Jr. said after the hearing. "All the occupants have
constitutional rights."

Corry said the case could be dismissed on grounds of illegal search
or because the Baatsens are registered medical marijuana patients -
though they did not get their registration card until a few months
after charges were filed.

"The judge has two ways out of this," he said.

Judge James Hiatt asked for further briefings on the case before a
decision would be made.

"I think this is an important issue," he said.