Arrest of Defendant OK When He Shows Up at Marijuana Farm

U.S. v. Najera, 2006 WL 302461 (2/9/06)(unpub'd) - A discussion of when it's okay to arrest someone who happens to come onto the scene of a drug arrest. Here, the officers had probable cause to arrest the defendant because: he arrived at a turf farm in a remote area that was closed for the day where bales of marijuana were being unloaded; the defendant drove into the farm in tandem with someone who was in the other vehicle who was identified by one of the unloaders as someone responsible for the marijuana delivery; and the unloader indicated another person was responsible as well. The court distinguished the circumstances from those in Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85 (1979), where all bar patrons were illegally searched when there was evidence someone at the bar was involved in drug dealing.