Opinion ID: 662298
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Viability of Marijuana Plants

Text: 7 The district court properly included the 48 plants in the cabinet in calculating Thompson's base offense level. A marijuana plant is viable and can be used in setting the base offense level if it has an established root formation and has the possibility of surviving outside of its propagating unit. U.S. v. Traynor, 990 F.2d 1153, 1160 (9th Cir.1993). Agent Levy, who helped dismantle the growing operation, testified at the sentencing hearing that 1) all 48 plants were independently growing and between 8 and 12 inches in height; 2) in his experience, all marijuana plants of that size had established root systems; 3) he pulled two representative plants to verify the root systems were established and 4) when he cut the plants to dismantle the operation, it was necessary to create enough tension to slip the clippers around each stem by grabbing the base of the plant and lifting it one-half to one inch out of the rock wool; this tension could not have been created absent a root system. The officers were not required to check each plant individually to verify it had a viable root system, and the district court did not clearly err in finding Agent Levy's testimony more credible than Thompson's sworn statement that 25-28 of the plants did not have established root systems. U.S. v. Carlise, 907 F.2d 94, 96 (9th Cir.1990) (whether root systems are established is a factual issue reviewed for clear error).