Posted on 03/02/2012 5:09:12 PM PST by Altariel
A judge this week ruled that an elderly couple could sue the San Francisco Police Department and other federal agents over what the couple claims was an illegal raid on their San Francisco home.
According to court documents, Malaquias and Cayetana Reynoso were inside their home on June 18, 2009, when officers with the SFPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives forced their way into the house and held them at gunpoint for five hours while they searched the property.
The couple -- both were in their 70s at the time -- claim the officers refused to let them go to the bathroom unattended or take their medication. When the officers left, Malaquias Reynoso said he noticed $200,000 in cash had "disappeared" from his bedroom during the search.
When he confronted the officer, the cop allegedly pointed a gun Malaquias Reynoso's head and said "go back in that house or I'll blow you [sic] head off."
Agent Megan Long, the ATF, and the U.S. government asked the court to dismiss the couple's complaint, but U.S. District Judge Susan Illston refused, noting that, as the Reynoso's claimed, officers took the money without reporting it as part of the search. She also disagreed with the defendants who claimed the Reynosos failed to state a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to court documents.
"Defendants knew that plaintiffs, who were in their seventies, had no criminal record," the judge wrote. According to the complaint, the search resulted in Malaquias suffering a 'complete physical and mental collapse, necessitating his being carried off to a hospital.'"
Illston, however, dismissed claims of "unreasonable force" and unlawful seizure of property under the Federal Tort Claims Act, finding that the federal defendants had immunity.
Matt Dorsey, spokesman with the S.F. City Attorney's Office, told SF Weekly they aren't too worried about these allegations.
"No findings have been reached about any of the factual allegations, and the city is confident it will prevail at trial with respect to claims against the San Francisco Police Department," Dorsey said.
You know that 9/10 times there is $200,00 in cash in someone’s home or car, then it’s a result of illegal drug trading.
Maybe not in this case, but overall...
I have no problem with the BATF seizing cash, cars, homes, etc. that belong to drug dealers.
Viva la war on drugs!
I hope they can keep their story straight; it could be a new tactic in this SWAT war.
Actually, that’s not a lot of paper. In hundreds, it would probably fit in a shoebox.
IF their story is true, I know what I’d do.
Scoot over to Nevada, make a purchase, come home, pay a visit.
People that were born during the depression and pre WWII.
Hard to tell the difference between cops and criminals.
You went awful quiet after you got schooled over your ill-thought jibe...
They’ve already changed W-2 forms I think it is to make space for obamacare crap.
“$200,000 dollars is a lot of paper...”
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Not really. Take out ten new bills from your pocket and stack them up. Compressed they measure less than 1/16th of an inch.
$200,000 in new $100.00 bills would be a 12.5 inch stack that could easily concealed inside pockets, etc.
Cyman, you really don’t think the ATF guys just met each other the night of the raid, do you? They’re a ‘brotherhood’ that hang out with each other all the time, i.e., golfing, partying, fishing, hunting, poker games. Not to mention all the time they are practicing at the range or prepping for a raid.
BATFE agents most likely took the cash. Bet on it. The problem? How does this couple prove they had that much cash?
They can pick up that two thousand dollars at their local police station at any time.
It’s SF and I would believe the people even if they only had a dog to back their claim before I would believe the QFP SF Police!
Eventually the problem is going to be that nobody is going to trust a cop at all if the good ones can't keep the bad ones out.
Thieves should be shot, and busting drug dealers in between thefts doesn't make you not a thief.
The couple would have been about 3 years old during the depression, if they even lived in the U.S.
Only an Idiot keeps 200k in cash, or a criminal. In all likelihood, these folks are just making it up.
You have no problem with the BATF trampling on the Constitution, so long as they do it to other people?
“Illston, however, dismissed claims of “unreasonable force” and unlawful seizure of property under the Federal Tort Claims Act, finding that the federal defendants had immunity.”
So, the Bill of Rights forbids the Federal government from depriving us of our liberties, but the Federal government can immunize its agents against the repercussions of such deprivations by passing a bill. Isn’t democracy grand?
They’re so used to stealing drug money and getting away with it, they must have forgot that people might actually care when they steal from ordinary citizens.
I know several people who have large amounts of cash/precious metals in their house, especially since the recent massive bank failures, and none of those people are criminals. I’m quite certain there are a number of FReepers from the “prepper” community who have assets stashed for a “rainy day” in their homes or bugout locations.
Well, it would be more a more implausible scenario if things like this didn’t happen repeatedly in pretty much every major vice department in the country. It seems that if you put cops in a position where they have regular access to untraceable funds, there will always be a few that can rationalize siphoning some off for themselves. Why should we think that ATF agents are any different?
” I cannot fathom why the ATF would have an interest, unless they could prove it was connected to a crime.”
The current laws say they don’t have to have any proof that it was connected to a crime to legally confiscate it. All they have to do is suspect it might be proceeds from criminal activity, and they can take it. After that, the burden of proof is on YOU to establish that it wasn’t criminal proceeds if you want to get it back.
There's a HUGE difference between cash and precious metals. Cash doesn't gain value, metals do. If you've got $200,000 in paper money stashed away, you're either an idiot or a criminal. Gold and bullets are a FAR better investment than stuffing 20s in your mattress.
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