cannabisnews.com: Civil Rights Suit: County Acted Illegally in Raid





Civil Rights Suit: County Acted Illegally in Raid
Posted by FoM on January 25, 2002 at 17:42:17 PT
By Jason Spencer, American-Statesman Staff
Source: Austin American-Statesman
Travis County narcotics officers who mistook ragweed for marijuana when they raided a Spicewood home last May illegally held residents at gunpoint as they ransacked the property and kicked the homeowner's dog, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Thursday. If the allegations hold up, it would mark the third time in 2001 that a raid by the Capital Area Narcotics Task Force went seriously awry. A sheriff's deputy and an unarmed teen-ager died in other raids last year. 
"This is the most terrifying thing that ever happened to me in my life," said property owner Sandra Smith, 56. "I've never been in trouble with the law. I don't even smoke cigarettes." Sheriff Margo Frasier, whose department oversees the task force, would not comment on the raid but issued a brief written statement. "At the time of the incident, the sheriff's office reviewed the actions taken by the narcotics officers at the scene and took what we feel is appropriate action to see that a similar incident did not occur again," the statement said. More than a dozen officers in SWAT team uniforms and a helicopter descended on Smith's property on Happy Valley Pathway on May 8 to investigate whether Smith was growing marijuana, according to the lawsuit, filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of Smith and three tenants of her rental homes. The officers did not have a warrant and found no drugs, said Jim Harrington, director of the Civil Rights Project. Smith and the other plaintiffs are seeking $35,000 each from the county, the task force and the individual officers involved in the raid. Harrington called on Frasier to either disband or rein in the task force. In February, Deputy Keith Ruiz was shot and killed by a man who said he thought the officers conducting a drug raid at his Del Valle mobile home were burglars. Edwin Delamora is charged with capital murder in the deputy's death. In December, seven months after the Spicewood raid, a task force deputy shot and killed 19-year-old Tony Martinez, who was sleeping on a sofa when officers burst into the Del Valle home. Martinez was not the raid's target. "The question to the sheriff ought to be, `Why does this task force even exist?' " said Harrington, who described the task force's tactics as "Rambo" style. "That sort of activity is exactly why citizens and officers get hurt." Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX) Author: Jason Spencer, American-Statesman StaffPublished: Friday, January 25, 2002Copyright: 2001 Austin American-Statesman Contact: letters statesman.com Website: http://www.austin360.com Related Articles & Web Site:Tom & Rollie Memorial Pagehttp://freedomtoexhale.com/rb.htmA Special Report: Hooked on SWAT http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10651.shtml Military Muscle Comes To Mayberryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10656.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by Richard Martinez on September 20, 2005 at 14:53:51 PT:
A Brother's Love
You are not forgotten. 
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Comment #7 posted by mayan on January 27, 2002 at 10:31:58 PT
plants are evil
Be careful growing tomatoes or any other green,leafy matter. Let's all be good little "patriots & take some Roundup to all plant-life. It would make it easier for the authorities to spot the dreaded "devil weed". If the narcs had the budget they would certainly do it themselves. I'm feeling pessimistic today...need some good news in a bad way.
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Comment #6 posted by i420 on January 26, 2002 at 10:51:50 PT
Excuse me..
If the cop don't have the balls to walk up and tap them on the shoulder and say "we need to talk" Then they don't deserve the "collar" These early morning no knock raids are absurd and a good example of why people have no respect for these morons.
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Comment #5 posted by bruce42 on January 26, 2002 at 10:25:38 PT
of course...
and those taxpayer will be tacked on to those wonderful stats published by the ONDCP that tell us that drug use is destroying our economy. I wonder what percent of their numbers are actually due to the waste of time and money that is the opression of pot smokers.From http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11838.shtml
"98.5 billion-are from lost productivity due to drug-related illnesses and deaths, as well as from incarcerations and work hours missed by crime victims. The study also shows that illegal drugs cost the health care industry $12.9 billion in 1998."I wonder what these numbers would show if deaths, incarceration, and unesccessary treatment froced upon MJ users by our government were removed? I wonder how these numbers compare to tobacco and alcohol related accidents, deaths, and treatment.petrol guzzling helicopters are just a handy way to inflate figures like this. I mean, DEA agents could be transported just as easily using Chevy metros, but I guess that wouldn't strike enough fear into America's ragweed growers. I sure am glad I selectively cut down ragweed on my folks property (allergy issues) Now for those damned tomatoes.peace 
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Comment #4 posted by potpal on January 26, 2002 at 09:01:43 PT
A night of shattering glass...
...even if it were cannabis. This kind of treatment is absurd, offensive and I object to my tax dollars supporting it. They ought to add a zero to their lawsuit claim. Of course, most that will be taxpayer dollars down the drain also. 
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Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on January 26, 2002 at 08:36:39 PT
Career day in Travis County schools
Travis County narcotics officers who mistook ragweed for marijuana when they raided a Spicewood home last May illegally held residents at gunpoint as they ransacked the property and kicked the homeowner's dog, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Thursday. If the allegations hold up, it would mark the third time in 2001 that a raid by the Capital Area Narcotics Task Force went seriously awry. A sheriff's deputy and an unarmed teen-ager died in other raids last year."So tell my class what you do for a living Daddy.""Oh I kick dogs, I ransack other people's private possessions, I kill unarmed teenagers and I take people's homes away and sell them and keep the money."
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Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on January 26, 2002 at 06:16:01 PT
"Mistook ragweed for marijuana"
The blind leading the blind.Drug warriors do have better things to do.
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on January 25, 2002 at 20:11:07 PT
helicopters
More than a dozen officers in SWAT team uniforms and a helicopter descended on Smith's propertyThe DEA sure likes to fly those helicopters. They may be busy this summer as many people are in a tight because of the recession and the new home experience thing since 9/11 and the home tomatoe crop is bound to be up. The DEA should give all the children of parents imprisoned on MJ charges or the children of those made homeless by property confiscation a ride about every month. Yes they should give rides to the children that have been removed to foster care because their parents are a victim of fight to preserve the tobacco, alcohol, and pill profits otherwise known as the War on Drugs.We have a Congress that cannot admit that marijuana has medicinal value. Please be part of the movement to replace every last one of them that is now in office. Send them home by voting against all incumbents.
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