In what has to be one of the most ignorant and bizarre attempts to cover up illegal actions committed by police during a raid, a lawsuit has been filed seeking to squash CCTV video – the same video showing officers stealing and eating marijuana edibles at a marijuana dispensary.
The lawsuit, which was filed by three unidentified Santa Ana police officers, seeks to prevent Internal Affairs from using the video footage as evidence against the same police that took part in the raid.
Sky High Holistic, a marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana, had been the subject of police bullying since they opened shop. To help protect them and their business from the police, they installed a state-of-the-art CCTV system. Unfortunately for Sky High, it didn’t take very long to catch the criminals in the act during another raid.
Moments after initiating the raid, the police sought out and disabled and destroyed security cameras. Fortunately for the shop owners, the inept officers missed at least two cameras that continued to record their illegal actions. The estimated damage to the store, equipment, safes, furniture, and the security system is over $100,000.
The basis for the lawsuit is that the officers involved “didn’t know they were on camera” and thus “shouldn’t be used as evidence”.
Matthew Pappas, Sky High’s attorney, said the claims are baseless, adding that the officers “knew they were on video” and that “Just because they missed one camera doesn’t make it illegal.”
How many times have you entered a business and noticed a sign stating that you are being recorded? Surveillance or security systems, commonly referred to as CCTV, are very affordable and are installed in a majority of businesses. It not only protects the businesses that use them from frivolous lawsuits, but they can also protect you against the police. Let’s hope the Courts rule against these officers. Just because they thought they had destroyed all of the cameras, that shouldn’t be a ‘legal’ defense to their illegal actions.
More detailed information with links Including LA Times accusing Mayor of taking bribes for Dispensary Lottery Here
Three men will go to trial next month after police say they were growing large quantities of marijuana illegally. All are charged with delivering or manufacturing between 5 and 45 kilograms of marijuana, the equivalent of between 20 and 200 plants, as well as a generic charge of delivering or manufacturing marijuana.
The charges were filed following police raids on an alleged marijuana dispensary in Brighton Township and two homes, which authorities say were being used to grow marijuana.
The defendant’s attorneys have also questioned officers involved with the raid whether they were aware if their clients were registered caregivers and/or patients under Michigan’s Medical Marijuana Act, but were told by one DEA agent that didn’t matter as they were operating under a federal search warrant. Federal law doesn’t recognize state efforts to legalize marijuana, whether for medicinal or recreational use. (JK)
7/20/15 – Michigan law enforcement has thrown down the legal gauntlet against at least three medical cannabis dispensaries this month, including two in the Detroit metro area and one in a small town several hours northwest of the city.
In Detroit proper, the dispensary Detroit Medz was raided on July 14, with police seizing a gun and “drugs” and making an arrest, according to Mlive.com.
In Canton, a suburb west of Detroit, three residents who operate a dispensary that was raided in March were charged with felony crimes last week, including conspiracy to deliver marijuana.
In Shelby Township, far to the northwest of Detroit, local and federal law enforcement agents raided the dispensary Advance Medical Supply on July 10. Police conducted at least four searches and seized three vehicles and at least 10 pounds of cannabis.
The raids and criminal charges come just a few months after eight other dispensaries were raided in northern Michigan. They could be a response by the law enforcement community to a resurgence in the state’s MMJ industry.
Some of the raids may have been sparked by dispensaries not verifying the Michigan residency of customers, Mlive.com reported. But given the gray legal area that dispensaries operate in, how law enforcement deals with such businesses is often left to local discretion.
State police raided eight medical cannabis dispensaries in northern Michigan this week, serving 16 search warrants and seizing an untold number of cannabis plants.
Not a single arrest was made, however, even though law enforcement officials said the eight dispensaries are “suspected of selling marijuana illegally.” Police also seized processed marijuana products and “other evidence” from the homes and businesses that were searched.
The dispensaries were all in Otsego County, some in the town of Gaylord, which is more than three hours north of Detroit. Whether or not any criminal charges will be filed will be up to the county prosecutor.
The medical cannabis industry in Michigan has long been in limbo. The state’s Supreme Court ruled two years ago that dispensaries are illegal, but as many as 250 dispensaries still exist in a quasi-legal status, with some getting protection from local communities that approve of MMJ.
It remains to be seen if the eight dispensaries that were raided will reopen. In some other states that have experienced similar raids, targeted dispensaries actually were able to open their doors again.
The Detroit police raided and made arrests at marijuana dispensary in an article in the Detroit Free Press from July 14, 2015.
Detroit police arrested two people and confiscated two firearms and drugs during a raid on a marijuana dispensary Tuesday afternoon.
Police seized 4,100 grams of marijuana (about 9 pounds), and removed 12 edible marijuana foods from the shelves at Detroit Medz, said Sgt. Cassandra Lewis of Detroit police Media Relations.
According to state law, only Michiganders who possess state registry cards can legally use medical marijuana, but at the shop “they were just selling to anybody who walked in,” she said.
Detroit does not have an ordinance regulating dispensaries. Detroit police favor having dispensaries be regulated, “so that it’s safe not just for the customers but also for the community,” Lewis added.
A local ordinance, spelling out what Detroit authorities expect of the city’s dispensaries, would protect legitimate operators and weed out any that are undesirable, added Southfield attorney Michael Komorn, president of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association.
But without such regulation in place, Tuesday’s raid was ill-advised because Detroit police should focus on violent crime – not dispensaries, Komorn said.
“I can’t speak to this specific location, but there’s a lot of dispensaries operating in Detroit and it’s unfortunate that Detroit’s leaders and citizens seem to be at odds about whether they should be there. Some people still see medical marijuana as just dope,” he said.
“These places are not causing lawlessness and they’re not hurting property values in the city,” Komorn said.
Some law enforcement agencies claim all dispensaries are illegal until the state Legislature passes a law allowing them. State Attorney General Bill Schuette agrees with that assessment.
The city of Detroit is overdue for regulating its fast-spreading dispensaries, said Winfred Blackmon, a community leader in northwest Detroit who is outspoken about medical-marijuana commerce.
What’s Really Wrong With Forfeiture – The Bigger Issue
With all these articles and talk about forfeiture reform and blah, blah, blah. The bigger issue has been overlooked.
Ok so they take some of your belongings they assume were purchased with some kind of illegal funds. Like the leaf blower you got from your dads house after he passed. Like the TV that was given to you by your brother because he bought a new one and was going to throw it out anyway. Like the children’s toys that were presents from relatives and friends. Need I say more.
The system does not have to prove how the items were obtained. It’s a cash grab. They sell it back to you or auction it off. I can’t imagine the items that are taken and in you know whose… garages and homes.
Ready for the worst of it…This part should really keep you up at night.
When they take your computer and other electronic storage products like back up hard drives and such. They are taking personal and private information and selling it on ebay, craigslist, taking it home or whatever.
On most peoples computers they have business, banking, family history, irreplaceable photos, medical, taxes, personal thoughts, and other peoples information, etc…the list goes on and on.
Do you really believe they take the time to ensure that that information is deleted. Assume not – just like the system assumed you were guilty.
That is your personal information and other people’s information (who have nothing to do with anything the system assumes) that is now in the hands of a stranger who’s going to do what they may with it.
The legal system doesn’t really have to prove anything. Prosecutors just throw all the charges they can at you till you are too financially drained to defend yourself and you give up and you plead out. Then you have to continue fighting it out in civil court.
Bottom line is…It’s a money making scheme and you are screwed unless you can continue the fight. In the end – you still lose.
One could go on and on about this. But the picture is pretty clear with the short version. Seems today’s politicians and police use forfeiture anyway they can so it benefits them and not society as a whole.
