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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: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Friday July 28 2017, @10:05PM (3 children)
I know that if I were in their shoes, with their background and training, that I would be awfully tempted to use all that to get real justice.
How long will it be before thugs like these invade the home of an ex-SEAL and stagger back out missing limbs? In a country with a lot of ex-military and lots and lots of automatic weapons it seems like it's only a matter of time.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 29 2017, @08:28AM
Well there's this
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/18/us/texas-no-knock-warrant-drugs.html [nytimes.com]
Small town lost a good sized chunk of it's police force to a well armed home owner defending his property against an illegal search and seizure.
(Score: 3, Informative) by t-3 on Saturday July 29 2017, @05:52PM
There is a young black man in Detroit facing murder charges for shooting and killing two plainclothes cops who kicked in his family's door with no warning. Chances are, the thugs will win the legal battle and a man trying to protect his family will be imprisoned for decades.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 29 2017, @09:13PM
i find it disappointing/disturbing that you use "automatic" when you more specifically mean "semi automatic" and you ostensibly know the connotation of "automatic" and should know it's used as dishonest propaganda. are you doing that on purpose or are you just ignorant of guns?