Marijuana was legalized, the owners were permitted and they asked the government to conduct a business inspection. Instead the police busted them and stole all their stuff!
We may be winning the war against the War on Drugs, but we still have a long ways to go. The Washington Post reports on the Shattuck family who were not only arrested but all their possessions were stolen by law enforcement based on the asset forfeiture law.A self-described Michigan “soccer mom” who had “every belonging” taken from her family in a 2014 drug raid has been cleared of all criminal charges, 19 months after heavily armed drug task force members ransacked her home and her business. But in many ways, her ordeal is only beginning.
Annette Shattuck and her husband, Dale, had been facing felony charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession with intent to manufacture marijuana and maintaining a drug house. But last month, Michigan Circuit Court Judge Daniel Kelly threw out all criminal complaints filed against the Shattucks ”on the grounds of entrapment by estoppel,” according to court filings. Entrapment by estoppel occurs when a government official leads a defendant to believe that their conduct is permissible under the law.
Law enforcement uses all kinds of trickery in order to increase criminal convictions in order to justify their existence and budget. Fortunately, the judge saw through their activities and invoked “entrapment by estoppel,” which is something I have heard of but is unfortunately not used by enough judges to protect the innocent from out of control drug warriors.
