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AlterNet reports
On April 20, 2012, seven heavily armed Johnson County sheriff's officers conducted an early morning raid on the house of Adlynn and Robert Harte based on vegetative samples found in the couple's trash. It turns out those samples were tea leaves, and officers found a hydroponic tomato garden instead of marijuana.
The Hartes sued the county for $7 million on unlawful search-and-seizure claims, which a federal judge tossed after finding the officers were entitled to qualified immunity.
On [July 25, 2017], however, a three-judge 10th Circuit panel disagreed--and Circuit Judge Carlos Lucero offered a sarcastic summary in the ruling of the mistakes made by the officers.
"Law-abiding tea drinkers and gardeners beware: One visit to a garden store and some loose tea leaves in your trash may subject you to an early morning, SWAT-style raid, complete with battering ram, bulletproof vests, and assault rifles", Lucero wrote. "Perhaps the officers will intentionally conduct the terrifying raid while your children are home, and keep the entire family under armed guard for 2½ hours while concerned residents of your quiet, family-oriented neighborhood wonder what nefarious crime you have committed. This is neither hyperbole nor metaphor--precisely what happened to the Harte family in the case before us on appeal."
[...] The Hartes claim that officers lied about the field test results showing the tea leaves tested positive for THC, the principal ingredient in marijuana. Police failed to photograph the results and did not send the samples to a lab for confirmation, given the pressure to obtain warrants for the April 20 crackdown--facts not lost on [concurring Judge Nancy] Moritz.
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Friday July 28 2017, @08:21PM (5 children)
More likely: they did do a field test, but got an inconclusive or false positive result and confirmation bias did the rest. They saw what they wanted to see. They were not looking for evidence, they were looking for justification.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 28 2017, @08:48PM (3 children)
Oh how cute you think the police bothered to do the science part. One loud asshole shot up and said "I busted enough hippies and gang bangers to recognize a pot leaf, you can wait for the results if you want but I'm going there right now to bust some heads! Go go go!!!"
Police officers should be incredibly worried about their public opinion, I now have such a low starting opinion that a cop has to be exceptional to make me view them otherwise. Abuses of power, authority run amock. We need to revoke that authority and severely punish anyone that crosses the line. Every other profession has major consequences for violations, but police are exempted and literally allowed to murder people because they were afraid. Think about it, officers in the US believe they can murder someone if they are afraid. Do you want to be getting a ticket from someone having a really bad day? Maybe latent anger from their ex-wife who left them because domestic abuse is so common with police officers?
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Saturday July 29 2017, @12:11AM (2 children)
If you want to murder your wife, your path is clear. Become a police officer:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/us/michelle-oconnell-jeremy-banks.html [nytimes.com]
Blue privilege can transform even a sloppy murder into sweet freedom.
Beating your wife, swiping drugs for personal use, planting drugs to lock someone away, routinely lying on reports to get the outcome you want? Easily achievable with little threat of getting caught.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday July 29 2017, @01:25AM (1 child)
So now, knowing what you wrote is true, think about the kinds of people who want to become cops. Where are the supposed "checks and balances"?
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Saturday July 29 2017, @03:14AM
Here's one:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/story?id=95836 [go.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday July 29 2017, @02:07AM
Still the Circuit Judges should have arbitrarily doubled the 7 Million to 14 Million, plus two million from the judge that decided it was qualified immunity. Judges really have to start being held accountable for their failures.
One wonders why this was being tried in Federal Court when it was a county operation. It suggests judicial malfeasance all up and down the line.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.