Stanislawski

Defendant Nicholas Stanislawski (appellant) appeals from a conviction for cultivation of marijuana (Health and Saf. Code, § 11358) entered upon a plea of nolo contendere.

On July 19, 1983, Mitchell J. Brown, a special agent assigned to the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, was conducting an aerial observation class instructing students how to spot marijuana plants from the air. The lowest altitude to which the plane descended was about 3,000 feet above sea level and the aerial observations were made with the naked eye. While flying over part of Napa County, Officer Brown sighted 80 to 90 marijuana gardens grown on a hillside near Dry Creek Road. Brown contacted Mike Smith, a detective from Sonoma County, who in turn called Deputy Sheriff Lynn Harmston of the Napa Special Investigations Bureau.

Shortly thereafter, Detective Smith met with Officer Harmston, showed him the aerial photos taken from the plane and also described the area to him. Officer Harmston who had been to the area on many occasions in the past and who had visited appellant’s residence as recently as two months ago, recognized appellant’s house from the aerial photographs. Following this meeting the two…