A Case?

[Forgett_TheMoon]

October 13, 2010 my boyfriend was arrested for have 12 small pot plants. Charged with Manufacturing/Intent to deliver

He had his signed doctor referral but had not sent in to the State Registry because of funds. Long story short, while in jail I sent his application in and he was approved.

October 18th the forensic report came back stating "NO Controlled Substances Identified" and the case Cleared/Closed

He was not released from Jail until October 25th.

 

Between the 18th and the 25th he lost his job that they were trying to hold for him while he was unable to be there.

He was hired back when they had another opening May 05, 2011.

He was able to find jobs intermittently, but ultimately it offered only a loss of income because instead of a steady 9.90$ 40 hours a week he made 8-8.50$ and did not work a few weeks at a time.

What would a reasonable way of calculating loss of wages?

 

No lawyer from Muskegon will take a case like this because it challenges the courts they work in.

Is there a case foundation here and can anybody refer someone?

 

Thanks for taking the time

[Guest Mr Pepper]

I guess I don't understand what type of civil action you plan on taking. The case was dropped. Although your boyfriend could use the affirmative defense to defend himself in court, how are the police supposed to know that? He started growing before sending in his paperwork - they are going to arrest him. Unfortunately, that's just how it works.

 

I'm not a lawyer, but I think you are going to have a real problem trying to convince a jury that he should be awarded damages.

 

 

October 13, 2010 my boyfriend was arrested for have 12 small pot plants. Charged with Manufacturing/Intent to deliver

He had his signed doctor referral but had not sent in to the State Registry because of funds. Long story short, while in jail I sent his application in and he was approved.

October 18th the forensic report came back stating "NO Controlled Substances Identified" and the case Cleared/Closed

He was not released from Jail until October 25th.

 

Between the 18th and the 25th he lost his job that they were trying to hold for him while he was unable to be there.

He was hired back when they had another opening May 05, 2011.

He was able to find jobs intermittently, but ultimately it offered only a loss of income because instead of a steady 9.90$ 40 hours a week he made 8-8.50$ and did not work a few weeks at a time.

What would a reasonable way of calculating loss of wages?

 

No lawyer from Muskegon will take a case like this because it challenges the courts they work in.

Is there a case foundation here and can anybody refer someone?

 

Thanks for taking the time

[jessiejamez]

No case. Move on with your life.

 

No one would take the case because there are no damages.

[Guest CaveatLector]

Since all of the facts are not clearly stated I will assume he was arrested on probable cause and charged with the felony stated. I will further assume he was arraigned on the charge and bond was set. If all of that is true there is no case here. When you rely on the affirmative defense you need to expect to go through the system before your case is dismissed. It actually sounds like he didn't get far through before he was released so I'd say consider yourself lucky and move on.

[The Digital Nomad]

no case, count your blessings, move on and fix the cause that made the police come out in the first place.

 

-DN

[Forgett_TheMoon]

I guess I don't understand how this wasn't a breach of civil liberty.

 

Imprisoning a person for a full week after court/forensic documents clear the case?

 

He was held with charged rapists, murders etc

Have you sat in jail?

Would it have been different if I hadn't bought the police report and he sat in there for a month before his next court date?

When he got out he was homeless, no job until the end of December. In huge debt just to get a roof over his head again.

 

I have moved on,

it was just something I've always wondered about,

because until we had a fallout local CC owners kept saying they were hiring a lawyer

to file a suit.

That was all

Thanks for the input

[jessiejamez]

I guess I don't understand how this wasn't a breach of civil liberty.

 

Imprisoning a person for a full week after court/forensic documents clear the case?

 

 

Oh, to be young and naive.....

 

“If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.”

 

-Winston Churchill

[Forgett_TheMoon]

I guess I would considerate it a passion to not have someone trespass against me.

I may not agree, or have a different view, but I don't believe I would call it naive.

I believe I belong in an alternative reality. Maybe time period?

So many views are not like-minded.

 

 

Do like that quote though,

Have a good day everyone.

Breathe Easy-

[The Digital Nomad]

what is missing is the full information on the case, your buddy sat in jail a week after the forensic report as the prosecutor still has to decide of other evidence is still available to proceed with the case. I am sure you were offered bail? Bail, is one of your civil liberites you can exercise when arrested for some crimes.

 

As for the forensic analysis on 12 plants and "no controlled substances found" it made me think you were growing 12 plants, not marijuana. 12 plants, seedlings, clones, are still 12 plants - if its marijuana. Why you got that report is beyond me.

 

If a lawyer takes money upfront for this case, it means he does not believe it will pay out in the end.

These people in this thread are telling you that your time is better used moving on, making progress - rather than running over old stuff that will never really satisfy in the end.

 

-DN

[treehugger]

forensic report on marijuana 12 marijuana plants?? since when have they done this? does marijuana not produce THC from the beginning of the growth cycle? i guess i am not getting how 12 marijuana plants can come back as "NO Controlled Substances Identified" even hemp is illegal to grow and you can be jailed for it so i am not getting this story!

 

Most of these tests have allowable limits based on the accuracy of the test involved, if they were testing a few 3inch seedlings with an innate thc content of under 1% this could be a foreseeable result. Of course, faced with busting an otherwise "clean" individual, with half an affirmative defense, maybe the DA just made up this excuse so as not to waste the taxpayers money on ridiculous poop. Might also have been the fear of being sued over $1.40 an hour!

[The Digital Nomad]

Most of these tests have allowable limits based on the accuracy of the test involved, if they were testing a few 3inch seedlings with an innate thc content of under 1% this could be a foreseeable result. Of course, faced with busting an otherwise "clean" individual, with half an affirmative defense, maybe the DA just made up this excuse so as not to waste the taxpayers money on ridiculous poop. Might also have been the fear of being sued over $1.40 an hour!

 

Posession of a marijuana or hemp plant is illegal, all they would have to do is identify it as a marijuana plant. At seedling stage, it would have little or no THC, but the criminal case is based on 'manufacturing marijuana' - so - guess it was not marijuana! If the prosecutor wanted to decline the case he could have done so 'without prejudice' - no games with forensic reports. Next - you can still be charged with INTENT to manufacture - this is probably what took the prosecutor 1 week to think about, glad he declined eh?

 

-DN

[Guest Mr Pepper]

The forensic documents didn't clear it. My guess is the prosecutor got whiff that his patient app was being mailed and decided not to pursue it any further. Of course, if that is the case, they always can change their mind down the road. Filing suit probably isn't the way to persuade the DA to leave you alone.

 

I guess I don't understand how this wasn't a breach of civil liberty.

 

Imprisoning a person for a full week after court/forensic documents clear the case?

 

He was held with charged rapists, murders etc

Have you sat in jail?

Would it have been different if I hadn't bought the police report and he sat in there for a month before his next court date?

When he got out he was homeless, no job until the end of December. In huge debt just to get a roof over his head again.

 

I have moved on,

it was just something I've always wondered about,

because until we had a fallout local CC owners kept saying they were hiring a lawyer

to file a suit.

That was all

Thanks for the input

[Guest Mr Pepper]

.

[lawyercaregiver]

Oh, to be young and naive.....

 

“If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.”

 

-Winston Churchill

 

What he said!

 

The cops imprison people wrongfully all the time. Winning a malicious prosecution case is extremely difficult and this is NOT a case of malicious prosecution (IMHO).

 

News flash to all thinking men and women: Marijuana cultivation is STILL ILLEGAL IN MICHIGAN. There are some SPECIFIC INSTANCES where the affirmative defense can be used and this may very well be one of them. However you do that in court, not before the po po.

 

More importantly, no card means the police were clearly within their rights to arrest the BF = no violation of rights, no case= no fair.

 

If it makes you feel any better (and I am sure it won't) I once had a case where the client was held for 179 days in Wayne County Jail. The prosecution never had good evidence against him and kept delaying the trial date. When I brought a motion under the 180 day rule (you can only hold someone in jail pending trial for 180 days in Michigan) the judge scheduled it immediately. The prosecutor adjourned my motion twice with a willing and obnoxious judge- up to the day before the client HAD to be released under Michigan law. Care to guess what the prosecutor argued? He said my motion had to be dismissed because it was moot- they were DISMISSING the arrest warrant and the case. 6-months in jail the guy lost his kids, his girlfriend, his house and his car.

 

Sieg Heil!