Charges Dismissed For 64 Arrested During Cartersville House Party

CARTERSVILLE, GA — The Bartow County District Attorney's Office has dropped charges for 64 out of 65 people arrested during a New Year's Eve house party in Cartersville. Rosemary Greene said Friday afternoon that after reviewing the case files of the 65 people charged with possession of marijuana less than an ounce, the "evidence is insufficient to convict" the 64 people who were swept up in the Dec. 31 incident. Greene will pursue charges against the one individual who was in possession of cocaine at the party.

This news comes on the heels of the NAACP's Georgia and Bartow County branches applying pressure and organizing a campaign that blasted the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force's decision to charge everyone at the house party with possessing marijuana.

The civil rights organization's Bartow branch said Friday that while it's glad to see the charges were dropped, "there are other matters related to this incident that we are continuing to seek closure on."

"We are confident that those concerns will also be resolved," the NAACP added.

The events unfolded after Cartersville police were dispatched around 2:30 a.m. Dec. 31 to a shots fired call at the home on Cain Drive. Officers arrived and detected the smell of weed and saw several people leaving the property, the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force previously said.

Cartersville police secured the area while they investigated the report of gunshots. While carrying out its investigation, officers noticed "marijuana in plain view and initially recovered a semi-automatic handgun," the Task Force said.

Cartersville police notified the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force to aid in the investigation due to the large number of people inside the house, the discovery of the gun and "evidence of widespread drug usage," the Task Force added.

More than 60 people were inside the home, including four minors. Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force agents obtained a search warrant for the home and said two firearms (one reported stolen from Detroit), individually packaged marijuana and several smoking devices were seized throughout most of the first-floor rooms. Everyone at the house was arrested for possession of the marijuana less than an ounce, "which was in everyone's reach or control," the Drug Task Force previously said.

They were all transported to the Bartow County Jail. The age of those arrested range from 15 to roughly 30 years old.

The NAACP argued that it was impossible for everyone at the party to be in possession of marijuana at less than an ounce, and raised questions about whether the Drug Task Force had obtained search warrants before entering the home. After the incident came to light, NAACP representatives met with local government and law enforcement officials to discuss the case and its impact on those involved.

Patch has reached out to Major Mark Mayton, the commander of the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force, for comment and is waiting to hear back from the agency.

This is a developing story so return to Patch for updates.

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