Mathematics lecturer John Finn '69 and his son pleaded not guilty on charges of cultivating marijuana at an arraignment yesterday in Orange County District Court, Deputy Clerk Dean Martin said.
Finn said he and the three people he lives with -- including his son and wife -- are charged with allegedly growing about 198 marijuana plants on their property.
Under Vermont statutes, such an offense is a felony punishable by 15 years in prison or a fine of $500,000 or both, Vermont State Police Trooper Rod Hall said.
Finn said police arrived at his home in Thetford, Vt. on September 7 and said they saw marijuana plants there.
Finn said he turned the police away the first time they wanted to search his home because they did not have a search warrant but that they returned later that afternoon with a warrant, searched his home and charged him with cultivation of marijuana.
"I never saw any of these plants. They never showed them to me," Finn said.
Police in Thetford could not be reached to comment on the nature of the case.
The four co-defendants -- John Finn, his wife Holly Finn, their son Forrest Finn and Holly's lesbian companion Carla Schauble -- were represented by Finn's attorney Charlie Buttrey. Finn and his wife have been legally married for about two years, although she and Schauble are a lesbian couple.
Holly Finn and Schauble did not appear in court yesterday and the court has issued warrants for their arrest. The court will set their bond at $5,000, Martin said.
"[My attorney] plans as soon as possible to file a motion that the charges against me and Forrest be dropped on the grounds that there is absolutely no evidence against us," Finn wrote in an electronic message.
Finn and his son will appear at a court hearing scheduled for January 9, Martin said. They were released on condition that they will appear in court.
Finn must keep the court informed of a telephone number and address at which he can be reached, not engage in illegal activities and not purchase, possess or consume regulated drugs, Martin said.
An earlier arraignment two weeks ago was postponed because the presiding judge "was a lawyer who defended [me] in the past," Finn said.
In 1990, Finn was charged with disorderly conduct in Hanover District Court for verbally attacking a Hanover Police officer. The charges were dismissed by the judge.
Finn is not a full professor, but has filled in for temporary positions on and off for 10 years, Dana Williams, the vice chair of the mathematics and computer science department, said. He said the department will not make a decision yet on Finn's status in the department.
"He's hired on a part-time basis from time to time to teach courses," Williams said. "Right now he's been charged ... We'll wait and see what is the outcome of the case."
Finn has written numerous times to The Dartmouth as an advocate for marijuana and alcohol rights.
"All drug laws are unconstitutional and a travesty," Finn said.
Last month Finn was part of a demonstration in front of the Coos Country Courthouse in Lancaster, N.H. to support a man facing marijuana charges. The man pleaded innocent, saying that marijuana was the most effective pain medicine for the injuries he incurred in a car accident that left him paralyzed.
