Marijuana Policy Project

A Jackson County public defender is back at work after pleading guilty to marijuana possession in a Kentucky courthouse.

Attorney Justin Neal Rosas, 26, was cited Sept. 28 for possession of drug paraphernalia, cultivation of marijuana, trafficking in marijuana and trafficking in a controlled substance. The trafficking charge was later amended to a possession charge to which Rosas pleaded guilty, said Herbert Putney, administrator of Southern Oregon Public Defender Inc.

"If I wasn't convinced he has learned a hard lesson, he wouldn't be here," Putney said.

On March 28, Rosas entered a plea of guilty in Fayette County, Ky., Circuit Court to the charge of possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor under Kentucky law. Court documents show Rosas was given a one-year suspended sentence, Putney said.

"All other charges were dismissed and Justin was placed on two years' unsupervised probation with the condition that he remain a law-abiding citizen," Putney said.

Rosas was back representing indigent criminal defendants Tuesday. Rosas said he "is not in a position to comment" on his case when contacted by the Mail Tribune on Tuesday.

Hired in December, Rosas had been suspended by the local public defenders office since March 1 because of the charges. Putney declined to say whether Rosas was paid while on suspension.

"That's an internal matter," he said.

An anonymous source sent packets containing several police and court documents related to the case — including a petition for a search warrant and the warrant itself — to reporters at the Mail Tribune and other news organizations. The packets were postmarked from Lexington, Ky.

The search warrant affidavit was filed by Officer Jacqueline Presley of the Lexington Metro Police Department. Presley states she and a "lieutenant Webb" of the University of Kentucky Police Department were distributing code enforcement fliers on the afternoon of Sept. 28 when they smelled "the odor of marijuana through the storm door coming from inside" a home on University Avenue.

Presley states she spoke with the wife of the accused public defender, Mary Rosas, and told her she was concerned there might be "illegal narcotics" in the residence. Mary Rosas denied the accusation and denied consent for a search, but Presley and Webb performed a search anyway "for officer safety to ensure there were no other occupants at the residence." During that search, Presley observed a gallon freezer bag of marijuana on the bed in a bedroom, and several items of drug paraphernalia in the home. The officers determined there were no other occupants in the residence. Mary Rosas was detained while they obtained a full search warrant, the affidavit states.

Later that day, officers armed with a warrant conducted a thorough search of the home, seizing 38 items. The majority were either listed as marijuana or related to its cultivation and/or its use. It also stated "suspected LSD" and "mushroom stems" were seized.

The packet of documents also contained Justin and Mary Rosas' citation by the Lexington Metro Police Department. It also cited Frederick Josah Kaiser on similar charges.

When contacted, Lexington police said they were researching to see if the documents came from someone inside the police department or elsewhere.

First Assistant Fayette County Attorney Brian Mattone said Rosas also was cited in Kentucky over a rental dispute in Lexington. Rosas appears to have paid $700 to a plaintiff and resolved the matter civilly, Mattone said. The criminal case was dismissed by the court, said Putney.

Rosas' Kentucky citation came after the Oregon State Bar had conducted its background check and Rosas had passed the bar exam. Rosas did not disclose his criminal charges at the time he was hired in Jackson County on the advice of his attorney, said Putney.

The state bar is reviewing Rosas' case to determine if further investigation is needed, said Kateri Walsh, bar spokeswoman.