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By Rachel Blevins
Courts in both Florida and Michigan have admitted that the dangerous early-morning raids conducted by SWAT teams searching for cannabis were completely unwarranted, and the overeager actions of the officers involved made their searches illegal.
In one case in Florida, Collier County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived at the home of Juan Falcon before 7 a.m. and within 20 seconds of knocking on the front door and announcing themselves, they broke down the door with a battering ram and threw two flash bang grenades inside the house. As a report from Reason noted, the purpose of the raid was to gain access to two dozen cannabis plants that were reportedly growing in Falcon’s backyard.
Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal ruled that the methods the officers used to obtain those cannabis plants violated the state’s law on “knock-and-announce” searches. In a unanimous decision from the three-judge panel, Judge Susan Rothstein-Youakim noted that when the deputies conducted the raid, they were aware that Falcon lived in the home with his family, which included his two children.
Rothstein-Youakim also pointed to the fact that the six deputies involved used extreme methods, even though Falcon had no record of a violent criminal history, and police had no reason to believe he was armed and dangerous.
originally posted by: ColdWisdom
a reply to: 727Sky
#1 I am shocked that Florida is one of the two states. They’ve recently pulled the Hawaii 5-0 gun grab for people that signed up for medical.
#2 Everybody knows that the police are on the take from the biggest local growers whether recreationally legal or not, and therefore the people they actually bust are the ones that didn’t pay for protection.
originally posted by: ColdWisdom
a reply to: 727Sky
#2 Everybody knows that the police are on the take from the biggest local growers whether recreationally legal or not, and therefore the people they actually bust are the ones that didn’t pay for protection.
originally posted by: ColdWisdom
a reply to: Mandroid7
You tell me if a swat team is necessary to take out somebody with 12 plants in their backyard.
Does it sound a little more believable now? That guy didn’t pay his protection dues.
. . . born into the weed propaganda era.
originally posted by: visitedbythem
a reply to: intrptr
They smoke grass too.
Your grass they stole when they broke down your door