Family Reunion Predicted in Drug Case : Father Charged After Boy Tells School Officials About Marijuana

A Garden Grove couple, separated from their two children after the older one told school officials his father was using and selling marijuana, will be reunited within a month, their attorney predicted Wednesday.

“This is a good, solid, stable family,” said attorney Julian W. Bailey, adding that the parents feel no anger toward their boy.

Bailey also said he considers Garden Grove police conduct during a raid on his clients’ home “outrageous.”

Marijuana Butts at School

The attorney is representing Randall E. Noe, 27, and his wife, Barbette, 25, who were arrested Feb. 6 at their Oasis Street home. Mrs. Noe later was released and has not been charged, but the Orange County district attorney’s office filed a felony charge of possession of drugs for sale against her husband on Tuesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lett said Wednesday that police raided the home after school officials told them the Noes’ 9-year-old son had brought marijuana cigarette butts to school and said his father had sold the drug.

Officers searching the home found more than eight pounds of marijuana, scales and ledgers allegedly used to record drug transactions, authorities said. The officers also assertedly found a small quantity of a methamphetamine, for which Randall Noe faces an additional misdemeanor charge.

Interviewed briefly at his home Wednesday, Noe said he saw his son five days after the arrest and hopes to be reunited with him soon. The boy and his 5-year-old sister are staying with their grandmother, Lett said.

‘We Still Love Him’

“We still love him and we know he was just trying to be helpful,” Noe said. “We’re real hopeful (of a reunion).”

Noe declined further comment. But Bailey said he believes the actions of Garden Grove police officers had the potential of inflicting “emotional scarring” on the children.

Police kicked in the front door while Barbette Noe was sleeping on a couch and the children were watching television, Bailey said. One officer held a gun to the mother’s head while another roused her husband, who was sleeping in a bedroom, the attorney said.

Bailey said the officers reported that they knocked before kicking in the door. However, he said, neither child reported hearing a knock. Although the family keeps a gun in the house, it is always kept out of the children’s reach, Bailey said, and there “was no reason” for the police action.

“The conduct by police completely outstripped the crime committed by my client,” he said.

Garden Grove Police Capt. John Robertson said he hadn’t received any formal complaints about the arrest, so he could not comment. However, he stressed that if complaints are being made, “we’re going to have to look into it.”

Lett said the evidence collected by police necessitated a felony charge. He added that it probably will not be necessary to ask the son to testify against his father.

“My case can be proven without the boy’s testimony,” he said.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for March 2, Lett said. He added that he doesn’t believe the case will result in the maximum sentence of three years in state prison. At most, he said, Noe will have to serve time in the Orange County Jail.

The Noes are “embarrassed and chagrined” about the situation and “place 100% of the blame on themselves,” Bailey said.

The defense attorney added that the couple have sought counseling from their minister and are participating in a parenting class in anticipation of a reunion with their children.