Cops must return plants

[iamnotacop]

Colorado -- A Fort Collins couple and their lawyer plan to visit the Larimer County sheriff's office Wednesday in hopes of recovering 39 marijuana plants seized by narcotics officers during a raid at their home in August 2006.

 

A Larimer County District Court Judge ruled Monday that authorities must return the plants and growing equipment taken from James and Lisa Masters. Their lawyer described them as medical marijuana providers for themselves and about 8 to 10 other people.

 

Brian Vincente, lawyer for the couple, hopes authorities have taken care of the plants as provided by the state's medical marijuana law, which was approved by voters in 2000.

 

"If they've allowed these plants to die, they've broken the law," said Vincente, executive director of Sensible Colorado, a non-profit advocacy group of medical marijuana patients.

 

He described the ruling as the largest return of medical marijuana to a grower since the law went into effect.

 

If the plants were destroyed, Vincente said his clients will seek compensation for the plants, which he estimated to be about $100,000.

 

Representatives of the Sheriff Department and the Larimer County Drug Task Force could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

 

However, Larimer County District Attorney Larry Abrahamson said his office is weighing whether to appeal the decision issued verbally in court by Judge James Hiatt.

 

"We're getting a transcript of the ruling itself," Abrahamson said. "Then we'll sit down and evaluate it."

 

If prosecutors appeal, he said they would likely seek an order staying the judge's order to return the plants and equipment to the Masters.

 

According to Vincente, the plants first came to authorities' attention after police accompanied a social service worker on a visit to the couple's home.

 

Masters allowed the officer into his home on the assumption that he was protected by the medical marijuana statute, his lawyer said.

 

Later, police raided the home using the earlier visit as the basis for a search warrant.

 

In June 2006, Hiatt tossed out the charges against the Masters after ruling that the search warrant was illegal.

 

Vincente argued that the officer who drafted the warrant, "wrote up a search warrant on what he had already searched."

 

Monday's hearing concerned the issue of whether the marijuana and equipment seized was contraband or property that needed to be returned to the Masters.

 

Hiatt heard about four hours of testimony from police as well as people who said they rely upon the couple not only for medical marijuana, but for rides to hospitals and doctors and other care.

 

While no one had designated the Masters as caretakers at the time of the raid, Vincente argued that the couple's actions met the definition of the term as spelled out in the law.

 

Complete Title: Judge Rules Police Must Return 39 Marijuana Plants To Couple

 

Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

Author: John Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Copyright: 2007 Denver Publishing Co.

Contact: letters@rockymountainnews.com

Website: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/

http://cannabisnews.com/news/23/thread23510.shtml

 

 

So if the cops have had the plants since August 2006, I wonder if they kept them growing. Bet not, so I hope they get there arses sued. Pity the couple s only going to ask for 100 grand, they should go by Aussie cop prices, 5 grand each = 195 grand.

 

One thing to note is, at least they are reasonable with their price claim, just shows the difference between law and normal people.

[WantDaChronic]

wish we had laws like that here

[torture]

yeah no shit

[Tom]

5 grand each = 195 grand.

The cops in Oz rarely value plants at more than $4,000 each, $1,000 per plant would be closer for the indoor grower that likes large plants, all they are doing by saying that they are worth $100,000 is promoting the bullshit values that the cops put in their media releases.

 

[Gee]

props to the judge for sticking with the laws and not siding with the police.

[Tom]

props to the judge for sticking with the laws and not siding with the police.

Yeah a good judgment, he should have ordered the cops to return and properly reinstall them too.

 

[Gee]

...and join in a mad sesh to show they are truly sorry

[Chato]

the follow up....

 

Fort Collins police return dead pot plants to couple

By Howard Pankratz

The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 12/03/2007 08:53:49 PM MST

 

A picture of medicinal marijuana (The Coloradoan | Michael G. Seamans)

 

More than three dozen marijuana plants seized by authorities from a Fort Collins couple were returned to them dead today by police.

 

The couple, James and Lisa Masters, along with their attorneys, said they will take legal action against the Fort Collins police and the Larimer County District Attorney's Office who they said by law had to return the plants undamaged.

 

"The Fort Collins police department absolutely did not obey the state law," said Brian Vicente, one of the couple's two lawyers.

 

"By law, the plants should not be damaged in any form. The police have destroyed the plants, they are dead, and we will take legal action to receive compensation."

 

Rita Davis, spokesperson for the Fort Collins Police Department, said that police were under no obligation to preserve the marijuana.

 

"At the time of the arrest, (James and Lisa Masters) were not on the medical marijuana registry list and did not have certification for possessing the marijuana," Davis said.

 

"The normal process of confiscating contraband does not require jurisdictions to keep it alive. It became a medical marijuana case after it was confiscated."

 

Larry Abrahamson, district for the 8th Judicial District, said that if a lawsuit is filed, the question will be whether the Masters have a valid medical marijuana claim.

 

If they weren't on the medical marijuana registry, they don't have a claim, said the district attorney.

 

The couple claimed that at the time police came to their home, they were medical marijuana patients using the plant to help their medical conditions, and to assist other medical marijuana patients.

 

James, 30, and Lisa, 32, said they have a variety of health problems and had a doctor's recommendation to use the medical marijuana, although at the time of the raid, they were not state-licensed marijuana patients or caregivers.

 

James said that the couple was indigent and could not afford the license at the time of the August 2006 police raid. However, with the assistance of others, they were able to receive a license several days after their release from jail.

 

The couple spent about 30 hours in jail after they were arrested; their two daughters, ages 6 and 7, were temporarily taken from them.

 

The charges against the couple were dismissed after a judge ruled that the police search of their home and the subsequent seizure of the plants were illegal.

 

Vicente said the property returned Monday was the largest of its kind ever in Colorado, and possibly the nation.

 

article here some of the comments at the bottom of the link are quite interesting....

 

peace

c

[iamnotacop]

some of the comments at the bottom of the link are quite interesting....

 

Thanks for the follow up mate. Judging by the replies, on that page, there are still plenty of ignorant people out there. At least we have people with a brain on our side, eg. paul shaw (aka kmkstar).

 

If the judge has stated that the seizure was illegal, then the fact that they wasn't already covered by the law, in regards to being Medical Marijuana patients, is irrelavent, IMHO. Hopefully commen sense prevails and they get to sue the bastards, and be fairly compensated. What they are asking for is not unreasonable IMHO.

[WantDaChronic]

bloody pigs, i hope they lose hundreds of thousands of dollars