# Cops Raid a House to Find Christmas Trees: Wheres the Probable Cause Now?



## FruityBud (Dec 8, 2008)

Like Mark Draughn, I&#8217;ve been somewhat skeptical of Barry Cooper, the former drug cop turned pitchman for how-to-beat-the-cops videos. He comes off as more of a huckster than a principled whistle-blower, which I think does the good ideas he stands for (police reform) more harm than good.

But damn. I have to hand it to him. This might be one of the ballsiest moves I&#8217;ve ever seen.

_KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.

__The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster&#8217;s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster&#8217;s secret mobile office nearby.

__The attorney was handcuffed and later released when eleven KopBuster detectives arrived with the media in tow to question the illegal raid. The police refused to give KopBusters the search warrant affidavit which is suspected to contain the lies regarding the probable cause._

To clarify just a bit, according to Cooper, there was nothing illegal going on the bait house, just two evergreen trees and some grow lamps. There was no probable cause. So a couple of questions come up. First, how did the cops get turned on to the house in the first place? Cooper suspects they were using thermal imaging equipment to detect the grow lamps, a practice the Supreme Court has said is illegal. The second question is, what probable cause did the police put on the affidavit to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant? If there was nothing illegal going on in the house, it&#8217;s difficult to conceive of a scenario where either the police or one of their informants didn&#8217;t lie to get a warrant.

Cooper chose to bait the Odessa police department because he believes police there instructed an informant to plant marijuana on a woman named Yolanda Madden. She&#8217;s currently serving an eight-year sentence for possession with intent to distribute. According to Cooper, the informant actually admitted in federal court that he planted the marijuana. Madden was convicted anyway.

The story&#8217;s worth watching, not only to see if the cops themselves are held accountable for this, but whether the local district attorney tries to come up with a crime with which to charge Cooper and his assistants.  I can&#8217;t imagine such a charge would get very far, but I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised to see someone try.

Raw Footage of Raid: *hxxp://tinyurl.com/69csp7

*Here&#8217;s some local media coverage:
*hxxp://tinyurl.com/6y6dsy*


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## noneedforalarm (Dec 8, 2008)

serves them right...this is such a sensitive topic,but there is a reason for the madness.when you try peaceful means they flash bang your premises and knock you down...theres only one way to combat that,its called force.its the sad way of life we live in these primitive times,but until then its what is called for.


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## homegrown998 (Dec 8, 2008)

maybe everybody should grow tomatoes first, until they get busted for it. Because I don't think leo would risk the embarrassment twice without some real evidence.


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## VaNdLe (Dec 8, 2008)

The police turned up after just 24 hours of setting up the Fake hydro ?

Ya'll need to move to Australia would not have been found for 24 years lol


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## nvthis (Dec 8, 2008)

Saw this in another post, man I sure hope there is some follow up on this, and it just doesn't fade away like everything else... 'Cause I sure would like to know what happens. I hope Yolonda gets a chance to sue the bejesus out of them.


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## CasualGrower (Dec 11, 2008)

24 hours???? now that is some darn good police work heh.... Granted I really dont like cops and their tactics... but WOW!!!!  they must have had an informant at the store they bought the lamps from or something.....


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## LowRider (Dec 11, 2008)

CasualGrower said:
			
		

> 24 hours???? now that is some darn good police work heh.... Granted I really dont like cops and their tactics... but WOW!!!! they must have had an informant at the store they bought the lamps from or something.....


 
someone had to tip the police off.  I'm sure it was them


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## AH!Charlie (Dec 11, 2008)

CasualGrower said:
			
		

> 24 hours???? now that is some darn good police work heh.... Granted I really dont like cops and their tactics... but WOW!!!!  they must have had an informant at the store they bought the lamps from or something.....



Its funny how diligent they are about things like this, but you look at most else they do. It seems the police are putting there priorities in the wrong place. Don't get me wrong, I have friends going into police force, and friends of my family that are in the line of work, and I appreciate our police as much as the next guy, but I think they need to re prioritize and re focus their resources elsewhere, on something that's actually a threat.


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## Midnight Toker (Dec 11, 2008)

Damn.


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## yumyumbubblegum (Dec 11, 2008)

Barry Cooper, a former Texas police officer with eight years of specialty in drug interdiction, first made waves when he released the film Never Get Busted Again, a how-to guide for evading police drug seizures. Austin, Texas-based Coopers latest project is not nearly so benign, and will likely generate for the former drug warrior an army of enemies in law enforcement.
 KopBusters is a reality TV program that aims to sink crooked officers.
 KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana, claims a release from NeverGetBusted.com When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.
 The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBusters attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBusters secret mobile office nearby.
 The attorney was handcuffed and later released when eleven KopBuster detectives arrived with the media in tow to question the illegal raid. The police refused to give KopBusters the search warrant affidavit which is suspected to contain the lies regarding the probable cause.
 It is not illegal to grow plants under a light in your home but it is illegal to lie on an affidavit and plant drugs on a citizen. This operation was the first of its kind in the history of America. Police sometimes have other police investigating their crimes but the American court system has never dealt with a group of citizens stinging the police. Will the police file charges on the team who took down the corrupt cops? We will keep you posted.
 Coopers Never Get Busted Again was a runaway success, the sales of which serve as financial support for this most recent project.
 The drug war is a failed policy and the legal side effects on the families are worse than the drugs, Cooper said to the _Dallas Observer_ in early 2007. I was so wrong in the things I did back then. I ruined lives.
 The Kop Busters sting was the feature of a CBS 7 report, aired Dec. 4, 2008.
*hxxp://www.loosechange911.com/blog/?p=384*


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## viper1951 (Dec 11, 2008)

I like the fact that they will let the murders and rapest and child molesters out of prison so they can lock up a pot head  great country we live in  land of the free my butt . when the criminals are in charge of the country (AKA the police ) things won't get better


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## TURKEYNECK (Dec 12, 2008)

man I love it.. First off.. 24 hours?? mr. cooper must have tipped 'em off..
either way.. im entertained Notice how the cops took turns getting pix with  the camera phones!!! LMAO!


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## PUFF MONKEY (Dec 12, 2008)

All this sounds kinda familiar....


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## AH!Charlie (Dec 12, 2008)

I went to the site from the video and I found the feed the prisoners part to be really cool. At first by the title of the program I was a bit skeptical, but then
once I actual realized what it was, I became fully supportive!


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