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Friday, April 08, 2016

What life is like after police ransack your house and take ‘every belonging’ — then the charges are dropped

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.

The Shattucks' case is an illustration of how the nation's patchwork marijuana laws can be a confusing mess for patients, businesses and law enforcement officials alike. Nearly two dozen states now have medical marijuana laws on the books, but laws vary significantly from state to state. And even within states, various arms of government have clashed over how the laws are interpreted and enforced.

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1 comment:

  1. The Simple Solution to this stupid idiotic problem legalize marijuana across the board, federal, state National legalization. The biggest reason this is hard to achieve is because of the pharmaceutical industry the alcohol industry will be in competition with pot smokers.Just think if you were allowed to grow one or two plants in your room they lose out on tax money. So this is the Crux of the problem, the TAXES, money and the industries that will be affected. Plus look at all the jack booted thug law enforcement agencies we put out of business isn't that nice that's the upside.

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