Couple Sues Deputy, Demands Return Of 46 Medical Marijuana Plants Seized In Drug Raid

[Hempcheff]

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/11/couple_sues_deputy_demands_ret.html

[Hempcheff]

allowing a grow to be seen from the road. Bad ideas.-

 

 

the law does not state a grow has to be hidden, and in out of the public eye. period.

 

No application mailed in-

 

"they did have a doctor's signed letter"

 

that is all that is required for protection under the MMMA. period.

[phaquetoo]

I dont beleive any one should go to jail for marijuana!

 

We have a law here now, that is not even protecting patients and cg's with cards!

 

the a.d is a good thing, I dont see how you can claim you are a c.g to other pateints and not hold paperwork or card?

 

If these 2 folks had 12 plants a peice I think the outcome of this case would be different!

 

Peace

FTW

Jim

[Willy]

good luck with the lawsuit.. hope they stick it to them. about time we fought back with lawsuits... lots and lots of them, break there cash hungry backs.

[V420]

even took the guys last 30 bucks...

[Marijuana Ranch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIGwhNAUXkg&feature=related

[backpain57]

“I dont see how you can claim you are a c.g to other pateints and not hold paperwork or card?

 

If these 2 folks had 12 plants a peice I think the outcome of this case would be different!”

 

I would like to think that phaquetoo is right on the money but, the way cops operate today? ALL trust has been lost!

[freemannabis]

Couple sues deputy, demands return of

46 medical marijuana plants seized in drug raid

 

Published: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 5:33 AM

 

VESTABURG -- David and Patricia Rempp want their weed back.

 

The disabled couple say a state police drug team wrongly seized 46 medical marijuana plants from their Vestaburg home in July 2009 -- and now they're waging a legal battle to get them back or be reimbursed for the plants' value.

 

"I was in bed in my underwear when they knocked on my door," said David Rempp, recalling the night Central Michigan Enforcement Team officers raided his home.

 

The Rempps' unusual lawsuit -- trying to get seized marijuana returned -- comes as the state deals with a variety of trouble spots with the two-year-old medical marijuana law. Critics say it's too ambiguous as written.

 

Among the glitches are recent raids at medical marijuana "dispensaries" in Oakland County. Police and the shop owners disagree over the legality of the shops.

 

And in Wyoming, an attorney is challenging the city's intent to ban medical marijuana growers, claiming it flies in the face of the law and state constitution.

 

The Rempps earlier this month filed a lawsuit against Ionia County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Bucholtz, an officer assigned to CMET, whom they believe helped remove marijuana plants from their property. Agencies may be added to the suit later.

 

They did not have state-issued medical marijuana patient cards but say they did have a doctor's signed letter that paves the way for getting the cards.

 

Keeley Heath, attorney for the Rempps, contends the law covers those without cards as long as they have a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for medical purposes.

 

"This is a case where the Rempps were certainly treated unfairly," she said. "It's a very big deal for them."

 

David Rempp said he uses marijuana as therapy for neck and spinal injuries he sustained when a large pipe came off a truck at his workplace and hit him in the back of his head. His wife, Patricia, also had a neck injury from a garage door that came off a track and knocked her unconscious, leaving her with migraine headaches and pain, according to a legal brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

 

Heath said prosecutors dismissed charges of manufacturing marijuana against the Rempps, giving credence to their claim that police should not have raided their home.

 

But Montcalm County Prosecutor Andrea Krause said the manufacturing marijuana charges were dismissed in a plea agreement where David Rempp pleaded guilty to felony resisting and obstructing police, a second charge from the July 6, 2009, raid.

 

"We were ready to litigate their claim about the medical marijuana act," Krause said.

 

Charges were dismissed against Patricia Rempp, she said, because they believed holding her husband accountable was enough punishment. He was sentenced to pay more than $1,000 in fines and costs.

 

Krause believes the police search and seizure was valid because the Rempps were growing marijuana plants outdoors in a dog kennel covered with plastic -- not an indoor, locked place as required by law. The plastic flapped against the kennel, and the plants could be seen from the road, also a violation.

 

She also alleged the Rempps were growing more plants than the 12-per-patient allowed under law and did not have proper "caregiver" documentation to serve two other patients as they claimed.

 

Others, however, say the raid seems to be part of an ongoing trend of police searching the homes of medical marijuana caregivers.

 

"There does seem to be some unwillingness among the police to accept the law as written," said Greg Francisco, former executive director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association. "The police are treating these people as full-blown drug criminals."

 

Rempp said he was using marijuana mostly to improve his appetite. He takes 31 drugs for his condition and often does not feel like eating.

 

He figures the seized plants might be worth as much as $1,500 each, based on a street drug value. During the raid, police also took $30 from his wallet, two grow lights stored in his basement, some lighting ballasts and timers.

 

Police listed the equipment and money on a forfeiture sheet but not the 46 marijuana plants. Heath, the Rempps' attorney, thinks the omission could be key in court because the police need legal documentation to seize property.

 

The Rempps failed to file a $250 bond that might have preserved their right to get the property back listed on the forfeiture sheet. David Rempp said he did not know about the bond.

 

"If they just would have given me back my property, I probably wouldn't have talked to anybody about a lawsuit," Rempp said.

 

Officials at CMET and Ionia County Sheriff Dwain Dennis did not return calls seeking comment.

 

 

MOD COPIED & PASTE , Also MERGED TOGETHER

 

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/11/couple_sues_deputy_demands_ret.html

 

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[Grow Thread]

its already on the site bud

 

thats bound to happen though for as much info and you news stories you post. keep it up though!!

 

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/25716-time-to-draw-the-line/page__pid__233265#entry233265

[freemannabis]

its already on the site bud

 

thats bound to happen though for as much info and you news stories you post. keep it up though!!

 

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/25716-time-to-draw-the-line/page__pid__233265#entry233265

 

Hmm ..

 

For some reason, I didn't make the necessary connection between the header of the other post and the context of the post, when I scanned the morning's topics to see if the news had already been posted.

 

Thanks for the heads-up; I would not have made the connection otherwise.

 

'M I bad, eh?

 

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[Big J]

The law does not state that they have to be indoors or hidden. Do the people that write these stories even do a fact check. The biggest burden with the law is people making up things that are not in the law then reporting them on the news and in the papers as fact. When they are not facts.

[Guest 1TokeOverLine]

The law does not state that they have to be indoors or hidden. Do the people that write these stories even do a fact check. The biggest burden with the law is people making up things that are not in the law then reporting them on the news and in the papers as fact. When they are not facts.

 

Mostly because the cop thugs see plants and dollar signs and go in like stormtroopers. (I'd be embarrassed to show my face, too). A high percentage of raid cases are based on cops claiming they observed or smelled "marijuana" plants. It ain't right, but it's working for them, they have more legal funds than the poor, sick and dying.

 

If you haven't suffered through a raid it's easy to quote legaleze, easier to be safe and take extra measures to avoid "complaints" and remove any reason for a warrant.

 

Just my 2-cents.

1T

[Grow Thread]

very correct, they probably should have used a bit of a better header if they were going to link to Mlive......

 

but tis all good. keep up the stellar work my friend!!

 

and....... back to the OP...... they sure as heck better get $46,000 for those plants

[peanutbutter]

Folks .. the ACLU is involved in this one.

 

They don't get into a case where they don't see any hope for a win. They can't afford to waste time on cases they can't possibly win.

 

Section 8 (the AD) protects both patient AND caregiver who are not registered.

 

Section 8 does not require any locked enclosure.

 

Section 8 does not set numbers or weight limits.

 

Section 8 does not set limits on how many patients a caregiver is allowed.

[mizerman]

The law does not state that they have to be indoors or hidden. Do the people that write these stories even do a fact check. The biggest burden with the law is people making up things that are not in the law then reporting them on the news and in the papers as fact. When they are not facts.

Amen!

 

I get so pizzed off (wondering if that will be edited to "tinkled" - lol) when I read stories in the Oakland Press newspaper as they ALWAYS get the facts wrong in the articles they do medical marijuana cases.

 

One of their more inept reporter even went to far to quote Dr. Leo Marvin (a retired physician) in an article she did about the raid(s) in Waterford and Ferndale.

 

They don't fact check anything.

 

 

Mizerman

[freemannabis]

very correct, they probably should have used a bit of a better header if they were going to link to Mlive......

 

but tis all good. keep up the stellar work my friend!!

 

and....... back to the OP...... they sure as heck better get $46,000 for those plants

 

Amen!

 

And, we might add, the 46,000 reimbursement must be paid solely from the thieving hands and pilfering pockets of the malfeasant persons and misfeasant "Public Agents" that deliberately have unlawfully stolen personal property from any one of "WE The PEOPLE" - clearly against the will and voice and vote of "WE The PEOPLE".

 

Keep on WINNING The GOOD Fight - for REAL FREEDOM.

 

SHARE The CURE!

[Grow Thread]

Amen!

 

And, we might add, the 46,000 reimbursement must be paid solely from the thieving hands and pilfering pockets of the malfeasant persons and misfeasant "Public Agents" that deliberately have unlawfully stolen personal property from any one of "WE The PEOPLE" - clearly against the will and voice and vote of "WE The PEOPLE".

 

Keep on WINNING The GOOD Fight - for REAL FREEDOM.

 

SHARE The CURE!

 

correct, as compassionate as i am..... my fuggin tax dollars better NOT be going for that 46k they have coming. that comes out of someone else's pocket.

[freemannabis]

Amen!

 

I get so pizzed off (wondering if that will be edited to "tinkled" - lol) when I read stories in the Oakland Press newspaper as they ALWAYS get the facts wrong in the articles they do medical marijuana cases.

 

One of their more inept reporter even went to far to quote Dr. Leo Marvin (a retired physician) in an article she did about the raid(s) in Waterford and Ferndale.

 

They don't fact check anything.

 

 

Mizerman

 

As we all see, as we suffer the pain they never fail to cause, YELLOW JOURNALISTS are afraid of two elements the most: "The TRUTH" and "The Facts".

 

Well, that, and a world without scandal.

 

FREE The CURE!

 

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[pic book]

a couple of 'heads up' items proceed from considering this situation:

 

if your goal is to grow 'raid free' keep your grow out of sight of the public, and expanding on what has occurred in other raids, do good housekeeping--keep past plants and stalks out of sight around your grow (and lights and medium and bulb and all other accessory packaging out of sight).

 

for a serious grower looking beyond just one crop, attorney retainer is the first and wisest money you spend.

 

when the AD is your only way to justice it is also the longest and the slowest way and not a way unless a non-profit public interest firm is willing to come in on your behalf and work for free.