Accounts of drug bust contrast

SANDPOINT — Differing accounts of a nighttime knock-and-talk investigation which led to the discovery of an indoor marijuana growing operation emerged on Monday in 1st District Court.

The contradictory versions of how the bust at 3912 Rapid Lightning Road went down on Jan. 28 surfaced as Judge Steve Verby resumed consideration of a defense motion to suppress evidence in the cases against Seth Matthan Walser and Kimberly Sue Brown.

Walser, 32, and Brown, 28, are charged with marijuana trafficking in connection with the 100 plants found growing in the upstairs portion of a detached outbuilding on the property.

Bonner County Sheriff’s Deputy Marty Ryan went to the couple’s home after receiving a tip that pot was being grown on the property, according to prior testimony in the case. He confronted Walser and Brown about the allegation and they ultimately consented to a search.

Brown took the stand during the suppression hearing and testified that Ryan presented her with two options — cooperate with a search or face immediate arrest, which would cause their children’s custody to be placed with the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare.

Brown also testified that Ryan placed one of his palms on her back and outstretched the other in the direction of the home’s interior to usher her inside.

“I didn’t feel free to say ‘no,’” Brown said.

Walser also took the stand, telling the court he watched from inside the shop as Ryan peered into the outbuilding without announcing his presence before making his way toward the home. Walser corroborated Brown’s account of Ryan’s actions on the home’s doorstep.

But Ryan testified that he never touched Brown and didn’t look into any buildings until after contact with the couple had been established.

Brown’s counsel, Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson, argued Ryan lacked legal justification for entering onto the property and his statements about the couple’s arrest and the sheltering of their children amounted to threats.

“He had no business being there and this was coercive consent,” she said.

Walser’s attorney, Valerie Thornton, maintained Ryan’s late-night presence was an unacceptable intrusion onto the property in which he wandered into areas where a reasonably respectful visitor would not be expected to venture.

Thornton added that Ryan’s demeanor during the course of the contact created a scenario where the couple felt they had no choice but to submit.

“No reasonable person would feel free to leave,” said Thornton.

Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank disputed that contention.

“The overall tone of the contact was consensual,” Greenbank said.

Greenbank pointed out that the couple advised Ryan to obtain a search warrant at several times during the contact and that Ryan clearly explained their options.

Further argument on the motion to suppress is pending.