What are the factors leading up to a medical marijuana grower's arrest?

First, although the five medical marijuana recommendations may not have been facially suspicious--that is, they did not appear to be forged or expired--defendant told the officers he had never met three of the other patients. That was suspicious, because in a lawful "grow," patients and caregivers would be expected to meet to discuss dividing the labor and expenses to advance the collective's production goals. (See County of Butte v. Superior Court (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 729, 731.) Second, although each qualified patient may be allowed six mature plants, these plants were exceptionally large and each may have yielded over five pounds of processed marijuana. According to the testimony at the preliminary hearing, although some patients might consume this much marijuana, this is much more than is typical. Third, defendant conceded he thought each plant would yield a pound, giving him a six-pound yield, and said he did not know what he was going to do with the "excess" marijuana. Even accepting that he was only going to benefit from six plants, it can be inferred from this statement that defendant knew he would have more marijuana than he needed for his own medical purposes. Fourth, defendant claimed he had never grown marijuana before. However, he was found in charge of what officers described as a sophisticated "grow" operation, and common sense suggests it is not typical for such a valuable enterprise to be left in the hands of a rookie.

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