RULING LIMITS POT RAIDS

ANCHORAGE--The Alaska Court of Appeals ruled Friday that police cannot
execute a search warrant in a person's home for possession of less than 4
ounces of marijuana.

Attorney General Gregg Renkes says he will appeal the ruling to the state
Supreme Court and that he is "fearful that this will shut down effective
investigation of marijuana growing cases."

The Appeals Court ruled in the case of Leo Richardson Crocker Jr., who was
charged with controlled substance misconduct after police, acting on a tip,
searched his Anchor Point home and found marijuana and growing equipment.

A lower court ruled the search warrant that led to the arrest should have
never been issued and suppressed the evidence against Crocker. The Appeals
Court agreed.

The opinion is the latest decision that has carved out protections for
possessing marijuana in an Alaska home. The state Supreme Court in 1975
ruled that an adult's rights to limited marijuana possession was protected
under the state constitution's privacy provisions. Last year, the Appeals
Court defined that limit as 4 ounces.

The Appeals Court also struck down a 1990 voter initiative that
criminalized possession of any amount of marijuana.

To execute a search warrant, police must have reason to believe the amount
of marijuana exceeds 4 ounces or is being used in connection with a crime,
the Appeals Court said Friday.

Renkes said the ruling hamstrings police efforts to break up marijuana growers.

"It will be rare that there will be someone who can provide eyewitness
information to the amount of marijuana in a growing operation," Renkes
said. "At this point the only way to get a search warrant is for someone to
testify to the size of the crop."

Renkes said he plans to ask the U.S. Attorney's Office to be more
aggressive in busting marijuana growers, as the court's ruling does not
affect federal cases.

State prosecutors argued that the earlier decisions did not legalize
marijuana possession in the home. Rather, the decisions created a defense
that people can use when they are charged with possession. Marijuana
possession is a criminal offense and a warrant can be issued if there is
probable cause to believe there is any marijuana in the home, prosecutors
argued.

The court dismissed that argument, saying the earlier decisions defined a
constitutional limitation to the government's ability to prohibit marijuana
possession.