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A man suing over 42 medical-marijuana plants killed by Larimer County deputies claims investigators failed to check the state registry to confirm the plants were legal.
Recent filings in the lawsuit seeking $210,000 in damages and counter a request by county attorneys to get the case thrown out.
Kaleb Young, 35, was acquitted at jury trial in November 2011 after maintaining that his marijuana grow in Wellington was compliant with state medical-marijuana laws. When his plants were returned, they were worthless because deputies had cut, bagged and failed to maintain them pending the trial's outcome, Young claims.
The ensuing lawsuit seeks damages connected with the plants, and the latest filing April 3 includes details about the investigation into the grow Young was running in 2010 when deputies began investigating.
Investigators with Larimer County Sheriff's Office had tracked down Young's financial records, property information and utility records while conducting undercover surveillance before the raid of his Wellington grow operation and Fort Collins home in fall 2010.
"The only action (the lead investigator) failed to perform was to check the registry to determine whether plaintiff was a registered medical-marijuana patient and caregiver," according to the April 3 filing by Denver lawyer Rob Corry.
When Young was arrested, deputies took numerous documents – including information on patients for whom Young was a caregiver – into evidence.
A Larimer County Sheriff's Office report from Pete Mesecher, the lead investigator, lists many photocopies of medical-marijuana registry documents identifying Young and numerous patients, including copies of his and the patients' driver's licenses. His report also states that Young hadn't shown income with the Colorado Department of Labor since 2005, and this caused investigators to suspect illicit drug income.
Cory's argument describes the taking of Young's plants as a violation of civil rights. It refutes the county's claims that its not liable because the suit was filed too late and doesn't fit within exceptions to the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2012 on what Corry claims to be the last day before falling outside the statute of limitations. Corry previously said his client expects to receive $5,000 per plant, based on what law enforcers have testified a marijuana plant is worth, in addition to attorney fees.
The Colorado Constitution requires that seized medical marijuana be returned on acquittal.
Mesecher, who prepared the affidavit for the arrest warrant, wasn't there when it was served. He didn't order the plants to be cut; their destruction was not "pursuant to any policy, custom or procedure adopted by the Larimer County Sheriff"; and the sheriff didn't order them to be cut, according to his affidavit in the resulting civil case.
Corry in the latest filing retorts that it was indeed sheriff's office policy to destroy the plants, which were taken when previous Sheriff Jim Alderden was in office. Sheriff Justin Smith is named in the civil lawsuit because he's now running the agency.
Alderden previously told the Coloradoan that his office couldn't uphold the constitutional requirements to keep medical-marijuana plants alive and that plants held in evidence wouldn't be maintained. He said he lacked the people, space and resources to do so.
After Young's plants were cut from their roots and taken away in plastic bags, Mesecher said in his affidavit in the civil case that he didn't maintain or cultivate the plants because that would have violated state and federal criminal laws. "Notwithstanding" the Colorado Constitution, marijuana is illegal under federal law, according to Mesecher's affidavit.
Smith has previously said it would be a violation of federal law to dispense marijuana to the public.
Fort Collins Police Services, in at least one instance of a marijuana grower claiming medical status, has taken samples and photos of plants, leaving them at the scene where the warrant was served. Corry said this is ordinary in Colorado.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: coloradoan.com
Author: Robert Allen
Website: The Coloradoan | Fort Collins news, community, entertainment, and classifieds. Serving Fort Collins, Colorado
Recent filings in the lawsuit seeking $210,000 in damages and counter a request by county attorneys to get the case thrown out.
Kaleb Young, 35, was acquitted at jury trial in November 2011 after maintaining that his marijuana grow in Wellington was compliant with state medical-marijuana laws. When his plants were returned, they were worthless because deputies had cut, bagged and failed to maintain them pending the trial's outcome, Young claims.
The ensuing lawsuit seeks damages connected with the plants, and the latest filing April 3 includes details about the investigation into the grow Young was running in 2010 when deputies began investigating.
Investigators with Larimer County Sheriff's Office had tracked down Young's financial records, property information and utility records while conducting undercover surveillance before the raid of his Wellington grow operation and Fort Collins home in fall 2010.
"The only action (the lead investigator) failed to perform was to check the registry to determine whether plaintiff was a registered medical-marijuana patient and caregiver," according to the April 3 filing by Denver lawyer Rob Corry.
When Young was arrested, deputies took numerous documents – including information on patients for whom Young was a caregiver – into evidence.
A Larimer County Sheriff's Office report from Pete Mesecher, the lead investigator, lists many photocopies of medical-marijuana registry documents identifying Young and numerous patients, including copies of his and the patients' driver's licenses. His report also states that Young hadn't shown income with the Colorado Department of Labor since 2005, and this caused investigators to suspect illicit drug income.
Cory's argument describes the taking of Young's plants as a violation of civil rights. It refutes the county's claims that its not liable because the suit was filed too late and doesn't fit within exceptions to the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2012 on what Corry claims to be the last day before falling outside the statute of limitations. Corry previously said his client expects to receive $5,000 per plant, based on what law enforcers have testified a marijuana plant is worth, in addition to attorney fees.
The Colorado Constitution requires that seized medical marijuana be returned on acquittal.
Mesecher, who prepared the affidavit for the arrest warrant, wasn't there when it was served. He didn't order the plants to be cut; their destruction was not "pursuant to any policy, custom or procedure adopted by the Larimer County Sheriff"; and the sheriff didn't order them to be cut, according to his affidavit in the resulting civil case.
Corry in the latest filing retorts that it was indeed sheriff's office policy to destroy the plants, which were taken when previous Sheriff Jim Alderden was in office. Sheriff Justin Smith is named in the civil lawsuit because he's now running the agency.
Alderden previously told the Coloradoan that his office couldn't uphold the constitutional requirements to keep medical-marijuana plants alive and that plants held in evidence wouldn't be maintained. He said he lacked the people, space and resources to do so.
After Young's plants were cut from their roots and taken away in plastic bags, Mesecher said in his affidavit in the civil case that he didn't maintain or cultivate the plants because that would have violated state and federal criminal laws. "Notwithstanding" the Colorado Constitution, marijuana is illegal under federal law, according to Mesecher's affidavit.
Smith has previously said it would be a violation of federal law to dispense marijuana to the public.
Fort Collins Police Services, in at least one instance of a marijuana grower claiming medical status, has taken samples and photos of plants, leaving them at the scene where the warrant was served. Corry said this is ordinary in Colorado.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: coloradoan.com
Author: Robert Allen
Website: The Coloradoan | Fort Collins news, community, entertainment, and classifieds. Serving Fort Collins, Colorado
