Drug case dismissed against teacher (pot in garage "botany experiment")

[rainbow4321]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D87SI9300.html


Prosecutors have dismissed the drug case against a high school science teacher after determining police lacked probable cause to enter his garage where marijuana was found.

Philip Blake Sills, 45, has been on paid leave since his November felony arrest after Fort Worth police entered his unlocked garage while chasing a truancy suspect.

After finding "large green leafy plants hanging from the rafters," police obtained a search warrant and found more marijuana in the garage and house, an amount totaling about a pound, according to the police report.

Sills, who has been with the school district 19 years, then arrived home and said he was a science teacher doing a botany experiment, according to the report. When asked about the smell, Sills said he had been growing the marijuana for about eight months "so I could save myself some money instead of buying it off the street," the report said.