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| Police Say Pot Plants Led Teens To Invade Home |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 05, 2002 at 21:59:42 PT By Sean Webby, Mercury News Source: San Jose Mercury News 
It was the rumored treasure of marijuana plants growing in the Mountain View home of John Barrymore III that started the whole thing, investigators believe.Arming themselves with a sock containing a heavy metal trailer hitch, a group of teenagers from around the South Peninsula planned the home invasion of the 47-year-old scion of the famous acting family, according to police. They poured out of a Volkswagen and struck Wednesday afternoon. Two days later, two teenage suspects were shackled in a Palo Alto court, facing attempted murder and other felony charges, and the rest were in juvenile lockup. Barrymore was in Stanford University Medical Center after six hours of brain surgery. He is expected to live. His wife, Rebecca, was at home, recovering from her injuries, reliving the attack. ``We are lucky to be alive,'' she told the Mercury News. ``My God, I think they wanted to kill us.'' So far, only two invasion suspects have been officially charged in Superior Court. Michael Anthony Jordan, 17, of Santa Clara, who allegedly bludgeoned Barrymore and his wife with the ``slung shot,'' faces life in prison. Jordan, a minor who will be tried as an adult, is being held on $5 million bail. Jeremy Solito, 18, of San Jose, is a suspected accomplice and lookout. He is being held on $1 million bail. They are both due back in court Wednesday. Jordan's family, outside court, said he had told them he was involved with the robbery but had never intended to hurt anyone. The ``weapon,'' they said, was meant to be used to break into a garage, where the marijuana plants were growing. ``He's just a kid,'' said Lisette Franco, his mother. ``My son is not a killer. He didn't know who these people were.'' The other suspects were being held in juvenile court. Their identities were not released, but they include a 17-year-old from Mountain View, a 17-year-old from Stockton, and a 16- and 17-year-old from Los Altos. Mountain View police seized about 100 plants from the Barrymore home and are investigating. Rebecca Barrymore said the plants are medically prescribed to relieve her husband's chronic migraines -- illegal under federal law, but state law allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to grow some for personal use. Investigators believe the Barrymores' teenage son may have bragged in school about the marijuana. ``Let's go jack this guy whose got, like, 30 plants,'' a witness claims Jordan said before the invasion. Jordan allegedly came from behind Barrymore as he answered a knock at the front door and said, ``We are here about the `bomb' '' -- street slang for marijuana. Then he swung the sock. It thudded against Barrymore's head and he fell. Jordan kept hitting and kicking him, according to police. Rebecca Barrymore said she came running at her husband's moans, and Jordan chased her throughout her home as he struck her again and again with the weapon. Note: Attack Put Member of Barrymore Family in Hospital. Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Related Articles: Misguided Laws Make Marijuana Deadly Violent Crimes Undercut Marijuana's Mellow Image Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #20 posted by el_toonces on May 07, 2002 at 21:12:34 PT:
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| ...being MADE to steal by evil marijuana plants!:) I can just see the strategy meeting in their defense lawyers' offices: "So, isn't it the case that once you saw those plants, a 'demon' entered your mind and you lost control and even forgot stealing something was wrong?" says counsel. "Yeah, that's it, that's the TICKET," responds client:). Everyone will demonize MJ to save their own skin, it seems, except the patients. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #19 posted by Jose Melendez on May 06, 2002 at 16:19:34 PT |
| My opinion: the suggestion that pot plants led to this violence ignores evidence that prohibition artificially inflates the perceived value of the "weed". Perhaps these "investigators" need to take some sensitivity training... or just a history course that does not pretend cannabis never existed.
from: MYTH: Rape victims are dressed provocatively or are very attractive. From: Wrong idea: Many people believe that women dress and behave in a particular way which causes men to get excited and rape them. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #18 posted by Hope on May 06, 2002 at 15:45:12 PT |
| Odd. I never saw an article that said "Expensive Sound System, Jewelry, or Coin Collection LED Teens To Invade Home". How about, "Money In Cash Register Led Man To Rob Convenience Store." Or "Cute figure Led Man To Rape Woman". Poor Teens. That evil pot, it just "led" them and they couldn't resist. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #17 posted by greenmed on May 06, 2002 at 14:37:27 PT |
| Violent home invasion and beating with a trailer hitch for growing medicine... future DEA rangers in training? ``We are lucky to be alive,'' she told the Mercury News. ``My God, I think they wanted to kill us.'' Alas, one more 'marijuana-related' ER visit for the prohibitionists' statistics. greenmed [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #16 posted by goneposthole on May 06, 2002 at 06:05:43 PT |
| Not enough coffee and it's too early. The death sentence is not a severe enough punishment for how I murder some wordings. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #15 posted by Jose Melendez on May 06, 2002 at 06:03:23 PT |
Coming soon to theaters ner you:the `bomb'(Rated R)[ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #14 posted by Jose Melendez on May 06, 2002 at 06:01:00 PT |
| NATO troops are supposed to be carrying vials of dexanabinol to take in case of a nerve gas attack ...is that true? how can they be fighting to keep pot illegal as if it damages the brain and yet give it to troops because it has neuroprotective properties? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by Jose Melendez on May 06, 2002 at 05:56:33 PT |
| I wonder what legal medications these kids were on or supposed to be on...
Let's see:
[ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by goneposthole on May 06, 2002 at 05:26:09 PT |
| Terrorizing someone for something somebody else wants. Doesn't matter what it is. It could be oil, too. Then you gather an entire military, send them to a far off land and use cruise missles instead of trailer hitches inside of socks. Here, jet planes are used instead of cruise missles. It's all the same. The petro dollar wasn't so bad, the wars were horrific, but now the drug dollar (doesn't matter whose national currency it is) is reeking havoc worldwide. Now, a teenaged human being is going to spend time in prison. Why? Because he thought he could get something for nothing and be able to sell it for 400 dollars an ounce. What's 400 dollars? If he would spend it at the Pentagon, he'd get a hammer or a toilet seat. Real big deal, is it not? How about those folks in Kabul when laser guided bombs slammed into their houses, who cares about them? The four Canadian soldiers who died from a laser guided bomb, not one leader from the US government attended a single funeral. Where is the compassion? There isn't any. If you're not standing, walking and talking among the living, that's just the way it goes. Those out there feeding consumerism will keep on doing so. They're going to get there 150 million dollars this year. They're also quite insane. I called God last night and had a long chat with him. He was drunk. He can't handle all of this maddness, either. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by potpal on May 06, 2002 at 04:50:51 PT |
| 260 cities march for an end to prohibition...virtually no tv coverage at all by national news media...whatever coverage there was played it down for the most part. One incident involving violence and a celebrity and they jump on it like blood thirty hounds, watch and see. We'll hear about this all day, repeatedly, extending to the trial and the slant will be on the violence and the crazed dope fiends ...we'll never hear the end of this one, sad to say. If it bleeds it leads. Makes me sick. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by gloovins on May 06, 2002 at 00:00:48 PT |
| I URGE ALL CANNABIS NEWS READERS TO GO HERE AND TELL EVERYONE WHO'LL LISTEN TO SUPPORT THIS BILL... http://www.mpp.org/USA/supporters.html H.R 2592 < TELL PEOPLE, GET ACTIVE REMEMBER ALL...THANKS! Oh yea & hey what do you all think about an active campaign NOW to elect Gary Johnson / Jesse Ventura as President & Vice-President, a write-in campaign for starters, starting NOW so we have 2 1/2 yrs to campaign? It could essentially show just how POWERFUL the write in potential could be....? *Please* go below all & thanks again for your time all...gotta run n medicate...;) [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by E_Johnson on May 05, 2002 at 23:52:40 PT |
| It's just that getting mad and shouting is a response that has a limited effectiveness. However may I add that women sometimes get assaulted worse than this over sex and sex is legal. Women sometimes get assaulted worse than this over marriage and marriage is legal. Not everything is the fault of prohibition. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by Gloovins on May 05, 2002 at 23:36:46 PT |
| DOES ANYONE CARE IN THIS MESSAGE BOARD THAT BEING BEATIN WITH A FUCKING METAL TRAILER HITCH HIDDEN IN A SOCK, ON THE HEAD NO LESS, IS WHAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND/OR LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THIS COUNTRY WANT LEGAL LEGIT MEDICAL PATIENTS IN CALIF. TO GO THOUGH BECAUSE OF THEIR PROHIBITION OF THIS PLANT???????? A METAL TRAILER HITCH IN A SOCK!!?? THINK ABOUT IT. THIS IS RIDICULOUS, OUR COUNTRY IS INSANE WITH THIS SCHEDULE 1 LIE AND IT SHOULD JUST BE MADE SAFE LEGAL AND AFFORDABLE IN THOSE STATES THAT HAVE LEAGLIZED IT FOR MED USE ALREADY. WE NEED A SAFIER SOCIETY DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I just had to vent... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on May 05, 2002 at 22:48:42 PT |
| Wow the stuff they mention in that article is not even HU-211, which is synthetic. HU-211 is now called dexanabinol. The NATO troops are supposed to be carrying vials of dexanabinol to take in case of a nerve gas attack, it protects the brain from the seizures caused by the nerve gas and suppoedly can reduce the damage to the brain and nervous system from a nerve gas attack by as much as 75%. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by E_Johnson on May 05, 2002 at 22:44:45 PT |
| I've been reading about that stuff for a long time. I hope they are smart enough to use it on him now, it could save him a lot of brain function. Maybe he had a lot of cannabinoids in him when he was injured. That would be good if he'd just medicated prior to being attacked. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on May 05, 2002 at 22:42:25 PT |
| ``He's just a kid,'' said Lisette Franco, his mother. ``My son is not a killer. He didn't know who these people were.''
There is no loophole in the laws against attempted murder that lets you off the hook if you didn't know you were trying to kill a celebrity. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by FoM on May 05, 2002 at 22:40:26 PT |
| Natural Compound May Reduce Brain Trauma Damage http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread11033.shtml [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on May 05, 2002 at 22:34:31 PT |
| With all of the extensive research on the value of cannabinoids in minimizing neural cell death after serious brain injury or stroke, I hope they are giving him some kind of cannabinoids in his post-surgical treatment. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 05, 2002 at 22:20:48 PT |
| No I think it is Drew Barrymore's half brother. They had the same father. All this over a medicinal plant. It's prohibition that makes the crime not marijuana. From this article. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020506/ap_wo_en_ge/us_people_john_barrymore_5 Barrymore, 47, is the grandson of the Shakespearean actor and silent film star of the same name. Now dabbling in high-tech work, he has had several minor movie roles. He and actress Drew Barrymore have the same father. Drew Barrymore is the daughter of John Barrymore Jr. and his fourth wife, Jaid. John Barrymore III is the son of Barrymore's first wife. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on May 05, 2002 at 22:10:29 PT |
| Is that Drew Barrymore's father? How ghastly. [ Post Comment ] |
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