Reefer arested for vinegar!

[pink_floyd]

Stories like these really scare the hell out of me.... sometimes i wonder if it is better to be a lawbreaker than to be a law abider.. lawbreakers don't even get nervous cause they are so used to it... and you see it everywhere... we get nervous of parking tickets and then you see someone getting convicted of DUI 3 or 4 times.....and they look nonchalant .....

[Froggy]

Originally posted by LobsterOfJustice
Uh... because they kicked his door in for having a meth lab... and he didnt have a meth lab...

To kick the door of any house, the standard the law sets forth is probable cause. The definition of that is ....

PROBABLE CAUSE - A reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime. The test the court of appeals employs to determine whether probable cause existed for purposes of arrest is whether facts and circumstances within the officer's knowledge are sufficient to warrant a prudent person to believe a suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. U.S. v. Puerta, 982 F.2d 1297, 1300 (9th Cir. 1992). In terms of seizure of items, probable cause merely requires that the facts available to the officer warrants a "man of reasonable caution" to conclude that certain items may be contraband or stolen property or useful as evidence of a crime. U.S. v. Dunn, 946 F.2d 615, 619 (9th Cir. 1991), cert. Denied, 112 S. Ct. 401 (1992).

It is undisputed that the Fourth Amendment, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits an officer from making an arrest without probable cause. McKenzie v. Lamb, 738 F.2d 1005, 1007 (9th Cir. 1984). Probable cause exists when "the facts and circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge are sufficient to warrant a prudent person to believe that a suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime." United States v. Hoyos, 892 F.2d 1387, 1392 (9th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 825 (1990) (citing United States v. Greene, 783 F.2d 1364, 1367 (9th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1185 (1986)).

When there are grounds for suspicion that a person has committed a crime or misdemeanor, and public justice and the good of the community require that the matter should be examined, there is said to be a probable cause for, making a charge against the accused, however malicious the intention of the accuser may have been. And probable cause will be presumed till the contrary appears.

In an action, then, for a malicious prosecution, the plaintiff is bound to show total absence of probable cause, whether the original proceedings were civil or criminal.

Please read the whole definition. If the investigation results in negative results or an error in original information, probable cause to act still exists. The Police acted correctly regardless if the report ended as false. That is part of the job and unfortunately many if not most people feel they get their rights stepped on by the Police doing their job.

[saveafish]

I am post to get some paint today I might look at the heavy duty steel doors while I am there.

[Froggy]

Originally posted by saveafish
It is where the lines get crossed. Kicking a door down crossed the line when he said I am comming and they didnt wait. Meth labs are very dangerous but also what if he had a 3yrs kid standing in front of the door.

I think I may be talking to a lot of walls here but do you have any idea how dangerous drug raids on houses are. Someone saying I am coming at a believed meth lab imeans little. Should the Police wait while the drug lab occupants arm themself? Should they wait for the meth lab owner to set the place on fire ( as they regularly do ). Meth labs explode and can kill everyone around. The Police are not selling magazines at the door. I am coming......seriously ??

[Electrobes]

TBH I try to deter the whole suing thing.. frivilous law suits is outright annoying but dang skippy I would get some benefit from the contractors idiotcy. I would make D@M^ sure that I have solid ground to stand on before putting any family through that mess.

I'll even suppose the contractor had no idea that the police were going to kick down the door and put his family through that but none the less tipping the police off about possible drugs in a family house with just the sense of smell to go on is just ignorant.

I don't blame the police for doing their job but even most people would agree it was ridiculous in the manner they served the warrant. One could consider the police were trying to get the upperhand on the "bust"... but none the less they took that chance and it blew up in their face.

Fixing a door and saying a lame apology isn't balanced enough for me to just forget about it... and IMO a complaint to the detective and a talk with the contractor company would at least help balance things out in my book. Granted this is all just my opinion.

[GoingPostal]

The whole thing is ridiculous, the contractor saw the fish tank, was told the chemicals were for the fish tank and assumes meth lab? I would be majorly ****ed at the contractor, the cops only know what they were told but still were making some pretty big leaps of faith. Weird smells=meth apparently.

[Froggy]

"The whole thing is ridiculous, the contractor saw the fish tank, was told the chemicals were for the fish tank and assumes meth lab?"


GoingPostal, when was this said?

[strittmatter]

I am with Froggy on this one. It sucks it happened to you. But I do not see where the police did anything wrong. People need to get a grip on what real life is for the police. If the police get a search warrant they execute it and then they ask questions. It's not the officer’s job kicking in the door to make sure there is sufficient evident it's the Judge’s and prosecutor’s that signed the warrant.

[saveafish]

Well: Where it boils down to is the sub contractor and the dective that wanted a gold star in his SRB (service record book). The sub contractor just did a dumb thing with out reasurching. The dective didnt ask enough questions nor get a good report. Thus making the dective jump the gun. Causing the police to act unknowing. But, It is all team work when one team member goes down in mud so does the whole deparment.

[jdieck]

Is it just me or do you also get the feeling that more and more things are changing toward guilty until proven inocent?

[Playa-1]

I don't fault the police, the problem is political. Some people think it's ok to kick in peoples doors and raid their houses. And some of us think it's a bunch of BS. I personally think there are very few reasons that law enforcement should consider entering someone's home and drug related issues are not one of them.

Some of us think think the Contractor should have minded his own business. Some of us think that we live in a free country and if we want to play poker for pennies in our kitchen with the neighbors then it's our business. Some people would like to see the evil gamblers door kicked in and have them hauled off to jail.

I personally think that we are on a very slippery slope with our civil liberties. The next thing you know our tax dollars will be paying a bunch of A-Holes to run around kicking in doors to search for a pack of illegal cigarettes because some busy-body neighbor thought they smelled smoke. Our tax dollars will have paid somebody to sift through the trash can looking for cigarette butts and illegal beer cans.

We can't secure boarders, airports, shipping ports, properly deal with mental illness, feed the hungry, fund FEMA, or hold executives & Politicians accountable for absolutely anything, but we can kick in doors of tax payers looking for them evil drug cookers. I can think of about a million better ways to spend our tax dollars other then having peoples doors kicked in over this nonsense.

[boozeman]

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_arti...storyid=509182

[rbursek]

A reefer, no pun intended, in my area had the police at his door because they say the fuge/sump light on at night in the basement and they thought he was growing marijuana.

[saveafish]

Originally posted by boozeman
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_arti...storyid=509182

Can you say FREE electric for many years to come. Just rember we are all guilty till proven not guilty. Any lawer will tell you that.

[dc]