Posted on 04/03/2013 6:30:02 AM PDT by Altariel
A Leawood couple says heavily armed Johnson County deputies barged into their home last year, turning it upside down and detaining them and their children for more than two hours in a fruitless search for marijuana.
“This is how we were awakened: banging, pounding, screaming,” the mother, Adlynn Harte, said Friday. “My husband opened the door right before the battering ram was set to take it out.”
The father allegedly was forced to lie shirtless on the foyer while a deputy with an assault rifle stood over him. The children, a 7-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy, reportedly came out of their bedrooms terrified, the teenager with his hands in the air.
And all because the couple, Robert and Adlynn Harte, bought indoor gardening equipment to grow a small number of tomato and squash plants in their basement, according to a lawsuit filed this week. The equipment was never used for marijuana, the couple says, and no one in the family has ever used illegal drugs.
Nearly a year after the SWAT-style raid, the Hartes still don’t know what evidence deputies used to persuade a judge to grant a warrant to search their home in the 10300 block of Wenonga Lane on April 20. Their requests for records that could provide such information have been denied by the sheriff’s office.
The lawsuit filed Thursday asks the court to order the release of the records. The information revealed could be used in a federal civil rights lawsuit.
“You can’t send out the SWAT team because people are trying to grow tomatoes in their basement,” Robert Harte told The Star.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
“Nearly a year after the SWAT-style raid, the Hartes still don’t know what evidence deputies used to persuade a judge to grant a warrant to search their home in the 10300 block of Wenonga Lane on April 20. Their requests for records that could provide such information have been denied by the sheriff’s office.”
“The State doesn’t want you to know why, Peasant. Be thankful we let you live.”
(Do I really need a sarc tag?)
Does anyone make a video cam system that instantly uploads video to online (cloud) storage?
ALL OF US need to get one of those
Many security companies do or you can do it simply with an Android smartphone using the spytools app and Google Plus (yea, I know, google..)
Time to go with cash transactions.
“And all because the couple, Robert and Adlynn Harte, bought indoor gardening equipment to grow a small number of tomato and squash plants in their basement”
The irony is that marijuana growers know that the Feds monitor those purchases, so they pay cash for them, buy them in another town/county, or from a friendly garden supplier who won’t report them. So, the most likely ones to get caught in a raid like this are people who innocently bought them, not aware that they should cover their tracks.
You can't send out the SWAT team because people are trying to grow tomatoes in their basement ...I wouldn't wager a thin dime on that principle. The government is out of control, and as a practical matter, there is no (legal) remedy for it. Sure, some people win lawsuits, but most don't.
It’s explained in the article, no? They bought indoor growing equipment. That’s been a red flag for decades. Google “Operation Green Merchant”.
Just a bit of background on Leawood Kansas. Yesterday I was comparing notes with a friend about where we had sent our daughters for horseback riding lessons back in the 90s. The place where her daughter had gone was in Leawood and it was now a sewage treatment plant. When I asked whether in fact people in Leawood actually produced sewage, she laughed, knowing what I meant. It’s maybe not as fancy as Mission Hills but its where the people who wanted a newly built expensive home moved instead of rehabbing in Mission Hills. Average value of homes in Leawood would be around one mil. So there is a sense there of safety with the most dangerous thing to happen being the neighbors teenagers have a party without full adult supervision.
Also, the sheriff in this county is about to retire. He wants a perfect record. I would love to see him sued. He has totally jammed up the courthouse making it impossible to go in wearing shoes or a belt or any but the tiniest earrings. On the good side of his ledger however, he is on the record 100% pro-2nd amendment, just not in his courthouse of course.
Who accused them of growing pot?
In other words, whose name is on the warrant? Who gave this compelling testimony under oath or affirmation? Who made such a convincing case for their guilt that a judge was persuaded this family’s house could justifiably be invaded? That’s who needs to be doing some fast talking here.
The police are merely to serve warrants as instructed - searching the places the accuser describes, and seizing the persons or things he swears under oath are there.
So? Who is this mystery person who accused them of growing pot? Where is he? Let him answer for himself and face the consequences of his perjury.
Because this is no “mistake”. The Constitution’s safeguards prevent that sort of mistake. Someone is culpable: the witness who falsely accused them. Let him pay the price.
There are several hardware type stores that pop up near their home but Ace is the only national chain and a mile from their house.
The judge should be named in this lawsuit.
They wanted to confiscate and sell the house. Maybe the tipster wanted to buy the house at Sheriff’s sale.
Are you saying the judge issued the warrant without the sworn testimony of an accuser? If he did that, then yes, he should be prosecuted.
You are right. The police are not the bad guys here. It is either the judge or people who lied to the judge.
Always use cash when shopping at the local hydroponics store...
And yet some "conservatives" fear drugs more than they fear a police state.
The judge could simply say who testified. Either the name is given up of the judge should be penalized.
If not bad, at least incompetent: "Deputies told the Hartes that they had the couple under surveillance for months prior to the raid." And yet they couldn't figure out that no marijuana growing was taking place.
Okay, I see what you’re saying now. You’re right, the judge should not be allowed to cover for this perjurer.
Perhaps the accuser told the judge a convincing story, which met the standard of “probable cause”. That lets the judge off the hook, and so the full weight of the law falls on the false witness who lied and said these people were growing pot.
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