United States v. Wieling (153 F.3d 860, 1998)

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

David A. Wieling appeals from a judgment of the district court entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of conspiracy to manufacture and manufacturing marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C, §§ 841(a)(1), 846. We affirm.

Wieling was serving a sixty-month sentence for a drug conviction, when he escaped from a federal medical center. About a year later, federal marshals received information that Wieling was living in a farmhouse with Charles Harder and obtained a warrant to search the house for Wieling. In the early morning hours of September 7, 1996, federal and iocal law enforcement officers went to the farm to execute the warrant. Around 6:55 a.m., they saw Harder leaving the farm and detained him. Officers then entered the farmhouse and arrested Wieling. During a protective sweep search of the house, officers found firearms in plain view and marijuana seeds in a closet. After the sweep search, around 7:45 a.m., officers asked Harder if they could search the farmhouse, and he indicated they could. Because the officers wanted Harder’s written consent and did not have a form, they went back to the office to obtain one. Before the officers returned,, a-deputy marshal told Harder he did not have to consent. The officers returned with the form and Harder signed it at 8:32 a.m. During the subsequent search of the farmhouse, officers found a root hormone and two scales. In addition, Joel Rupp, who leased the farmland,- consented to a search of the. outside area,' where officers found 104 cultivated marijuana plants.

Wieling moved to suppress the evidence seized during the searches of the farmhouse. After two hearings, the district court denied the motion. Although the court found that the’ discovery of the marijuana seeds in a closet exceeded the seopé of a permissible protective sweep search, it foun