United States v. Wood (1995)
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
57 F.3d 913 (1995)
Forest Service investigators discovered three patches of marijuana growing in remote National Forest land, and video surveillance twice showed Thomas and David Wood (defendants) trimming the plants apparently to promote growth, while other visits found fresh tire tracks, footprints, and evidence the plants had been groomed, watered, fertilized, and in some cases harvested; searches of the brothers' residences and car turned up seeds, scales, baggies, and other drug paraphernalia along with marijuana plants and processed marijuana. The brothers admitted taking leaves and seeds for personal use but denied selling marijuana or cultivating the Forest Service patches, and the jury convicted them of manufacturing marijuana.
Whether evidence that a defendant cultivated, grew, or harvested marijuana found in the wild is sufficient to sustain the defendant's conviction for manufacturing the substance.