Posted on 12/11/2014 9:59:54 AM PST by MichCapCon
A man featured in a Dec. 3 Michigan Capitol Confidential story for being a medical marijuana user and having his property seized and money taken by police without being charged with a crime was arrested at 2 a.m. the next morning by the Michigan State Police within a day after the story was published.
Wally Kowalski says he was woken Wednesday to find the police at his door with a felony warrant. He was handcuffed and brought to the Van Buren County Jail where he spent the night in a cold cell without a pillow or blanket. He was arraigned in the morning and released after posting $1,000 on a $10,000 bond.
The police charged Kowalski with delivery and manufacture of 5 to 45 kilograms of marijuana, between 20 and 200 plants, a 7-year felony and/or carrying up to a $500,000 fine. He was also charged with distribution without remuneration, a misdemeanor.
Kowalski carries a medical marijuana card for himself and says he is the caregiver for four other valid cardholders. When police searched his house on Sept. 2, they could not find two caregiver cards. Kowalski says he lost the cards but did get replacements days later and turned them over to the police.
Under Michigan’s medical marijuana law, he is legally allowed to grow 12 plants per person. According to the seizure order, police found 55 plants.
When Kowalski asked if his arrest has anything to do with the report, he said police told him they have never heard of the publication.
“Originally, the detective on the case told me he would call me if they issued an arrest warrant so I could submit voluntarily. I can’t see the necessity of arresting me in the middle of the night,” Kowalski said.
His attorney, Daniel Grow thought the overnight arrest was unusual, as well.
“On these kinds of charges, I get most of my clients in during the day when the courts are opened and they can avoid a night’s stay in jail,” Grow said.
The commander of the Southwest Enforcement Team, Lieutenant Wayne Eddington, did not return a call for comment.
Michigan Capitol Confidential began inquiring about civil asset forfeitures on Nov. 7. Eddington did return a phone call and spoke about forfeitures in general terms but was not asked about specific cases. On Nov. 21, Michigan Capitol Confidential called the Van Buren County Clerk for a copy of Kowalski’s petition for seizure order. On Nov. 24-26, Michigan Capitol Confidential left messages for Special Prosecutor Cory Johnson, Eddington and the media representative at the Michigan State Police about discussing specific cases. None of the calls were returned. On Nov. 24, police got the arrest warrant on Kowalski. Three days later, they released the hold on his bank accounts. He was arrested Dec. 4. Kowalski is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 15 and Dec. 17.
Even though marijuana laws are slowly changing, doing business with this herb still puts the grower ‘under a cloud’ of suspicion. A very risky business as an individual.
Look. There’s a good reason why these crooks don’t appeal their cash being seized by authorities.
It because they are crooks. Drug dealers. And the money is illegal profit from illegal drug sales.
Yes, there are a small number of cases where the money is legitimate and the owner was too stupid to know the laws and so now he has to go to court to prove the money is not drug related. But the normal asset forfeiture is a good call.
Not if you believe in the bill of rights
The whole “due process” thingie is so 1700s.
I believe in the Bill of Right. I believe it when it mentions Probable Cause.
And authorities are LOADED with Probable Cause when they seize your $20,000 in cash in your trunk and you can’t/won’t explain why.
See post 6. Its about Probable Cause.
Absolutely wrong.
Asset forfeiture is a plague, a blight, and it invites police abuse. Moreover, it completely ignores the restrictions of the Fifth Amendment (re property) and [often] the 7th (being a non-criminal, matter the forfeiture should fall under this)… but given that the justification is allegation of criminal activity the 6th should be in play as well, and given those allegations are oft the expedient
circumstance used to engage in warrantless searches the 4th should probably be included.
Heck, all we need is inclusion of the 3rd or 8th and we have a straight.
No-one has any obligation to explain themselves.
Your seizure crap can pound sand.
/johnny
/johnny
No, you don't; probable cause is the reason for obtaining the warrant, not reason for ignoring the requirement of a warrant.
and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Sorry but this is a guilty until proven innocent issue. Police seize assets and then you don’t have the ability to fight because you don’t have the money (because they seized it). Even if you can come up with the funds to fight it, who is going to reimburse the legal expenses that you have to put out.
Maybe the solution is like some other claims where there are triple damages. If the police seize your property, then you are eligible to receive triple damages if you can show they wrongly seized it.
The headline attempts to make us think that the man was arrested “hours later” because he “spoke out.”
Nothing like that at all. The headline is a fraud, as are most, designed to get us to read the article and to forget the hype in the headline.
If I have $20,000 and the police want to know where it came from they’re entitled to ask and I’m entitled to tell them to go pound sand. In a free country the police should not be able to just seize property (cash is property) without first proving their case. It’s their job to PROVE a crime was committed. It is not their job to just randomly seize cash from people to raise revenues for their departments (as happens in too many parts of the US).
And I don’t care what law gets passed that literally legalizes highway robbery, it’s still highway robbery.
And the robbers should be treated accordingly.
Even if you can and do explain why, they're going to seize it anyway.
Maybe the solution is like some other claims where there are triple damages. If the police seize your property, then you are eligible to receive triple damages if you can show they wrongly seized it.
__________________________________________
Nah - the solution is to surrender in the WOD. Let the Cartels and the illegals have free reign with drugs here in the US. If you listen the the liberals here at FR, then you know all cops are scum and we must legalize drugs so no more dogs are shot.
Or it could be that the person whose money has been seized without a warrant, prior to conviction of any crime, is not a crook but rather, doesn't have any money to hire a lawyer to get the money back from the government.
Yes, there are a small number of cases where the money is legitimate and the owner was too stupid to know the laws and so now he has to go to court to prove the money is not drug related. But the normal asset forfeiture is a good call.
A good call if you like living in a police state where civil forfeiture laws allow the police to seize property that was allegedly used in the commission of a crime, without a warrant, and to keep the property even if the person whose property is seized is never charged and convicted of the underlying criminal activities.
I’m with you, Johnny.
Lots of honest, law abiding citizens carry large amounts of cash for valid reasons. It’s nobody’s business but their own.
I just pulled a $20.00 bill out of my wallet. It says, “This Note is Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private.”
I have no desire to live in a police state where the police can do whatever the hell they want.
In this country I don’t have to prove my innocence. The law has to prove my guilt. Therefore, I don’t have to explain the cash in my trunk, period. In fact, what right did “authorities” have looking in my trunk to begin with.
We have to take stronger stands on these issues. We have for far to long allowed our rights to erode because that person doesn’the live like me.
The attorney’s name is Daniel GROW??? :-)
Anyway, asset seizure/forfeiture is the real fraud here. And it’s time to lay off folks who are simply growing plants. (And no, I don’t use the stuff).
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