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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 8 years, 9 months ago
    I recommend we take up a collection, buy her all her stuff back in spades, lease it to her for free, advertise nationally (NPR ought to do a story for nothing), and dare the arrogant prosecutor to come take OUR stuff.

    Time for a movie!
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  • Posted by evlwhtguy 8 years, 9 months ago
    .Why in the world does this woman have to mention the vibrator! She actually looks decent...what does she need one for anyway......Wait a minute...they mention 4 children...at least some of which are hers and no mention of a husband......Maybe she should stick with the vibrator!
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  • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 9 months ago
    The forfeiture thing is dead-wrong morally, and I agree with others, they already sold the stuff so rather than cough up new-replacement money and compensate for suffering, they just want to drag it out further. That being said, "locked backpack"? What's that? A zip tie? One of the luggage locks that all have the same key if you don't have a pliers on you? Sounds like a stretch that she carries $500 in dope around with her to load up the elderly she takes care of... Unless to load them up to reduce their demands on her to wanting Cheetos and old movies on tv. I feel like there is more to this, my father in law has 24x7 care needs, he craps his pants every 15 minutes and sees biker gang members standing around his bed.., he would drive me to the point of just stoning him out.. Always a difference between what you know and what you can prove, but she should have everything returned to her.
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    • Posted by strugatsky 8 years, 9 months ago
      Please keep in mind that the only actual thieves that she had encountered were from the government. Would having a better lock helped?
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      • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 9 months ago
        6 ounces isn't something you would take with to calm the nerves on your lunch break...

        I have no idea what the lock-up requirements are for a narcotic or controlled substance when using some medical marijuana card or something to obtain it, but seems more like one of those strong-box / locked-up things, not a nylon backpack with 4 teenagers in the house.
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        • Posted by strugatsky 8 years, 9 months ago
          I have a teenager in the house and one that is about to become a teenager. I have guns (GUNS!) in the house that are not locked up (some of them). Should I be raided, arrested, charged with xxx, XXX, etc., (they'll make up whatever charges they want)? Or should I just prostrate myself anytime I see a government official to make sure that I'm on their good side? (do they have a good side? oh, yes, the side that gets paid!).
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          • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 9 months ago
            LOL... I have over a hundred firearms and a 22 year old that is away at college that grew up with them just fine.

            I tried doing some research, but the media is bombarding the Internet with "they stole my vibrator'.. and Smith Creek appears to be too small to have its own newspaper of any kind. The Sheriff's Department obviously deals with a lot of meth, drugs and heroine... it's 50% of their police blotter.

            But here's what you need to look at:

            1.) She takes care of 5 elderly people that is no-doubt a handful, if it was daisies and chocolates all day, the family would do it instead of the going rate of $5000 to $10,000 a month (which I know from experience). Knocking them out with your medical marijuana is easier than taking care of them, but probably not what the families want. In California, if you can fog a mirror, you can get a medical marijuana card. I'm not impressed that she has one, or that she 'supposedly' is distributing to old folks that have one.

            2.) With 6 ounces - far more than you would use for MS, or to load up grandma... Look on the map! St. Clair County is across the road, literally, from New York. Are the marijuana laws the same in New York?

            I'm thinking 1 of 2 things... either she was making her job easier by helping Grandma sleep all day (either willingly or by baking it into the brownies)... or she's walking across the border periodically with a bag full of medical marijuana to sell on the other side. Or trading it for her own more expensive drugs she needs (bought in Canada), or whatever.

            Either way, there are some details that cause an elected-prosecutor to take a complaint, go after a mother of 4 with MS and the obviously political fallout of that, and take on the case.

            She iterated she was 'not bound over for trial'... which means insufficient evidence for trial, not a lack of probable cause, or the lack of a criminal complaint and warrant for search.

            However, the search laws are crazy and need to be stopped entirely anyway until they are sorted out... the intent was to sell the Ferrari to pay for the cost of going after drug smugglers, not ripping off the ipads and vibrators from a chick in Upper Peninsula Michigan.

            We have also had problems in the past with professional caregivers trying to get info out of my inlaws on their assets... who controls their accounts, one didn't like helping my father in law to the toilet all day so she stopped giving him water to the point that he didn't crap for 2 weeks and was rushed in an ambulance for dehydration.. Another one seemed to cause my mother-in-law's Vicodin to mysteriously reduce by half a bottle every time she came on shift... The in-home care agencies tend to be a scam, they charge a butt-load, but the people they hire to actually do the care doesn't reflect what they are charging, nor is it reasonable enough to not be causing problems (like earning a fair income, etc.).

            Maybe I'm inherently suspicious of her, but I still think there is more to this story.
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            • Posted by $ Stormi 8 years, 9 months ago
              It was not clear what the elderly patients' issues were. In any case, being on marijuana at that expense, or in a nursing home where they put them on heavy duty narcotics and them charge the family thousands is another issue. That too should be illegal, but it is not. Make grannie a Rx junkie, and that is perfectly legal.
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            • Posted by $ WilliamShipley 8 years, 9 months ago
              If someone is convicted of a crime, then there should be penalties.

              If they are not, then they are innocent under the law and you should not be taking their stuff. It doesn't matter if you think she might have been selling drugs, there is no conviction.
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              • Posted by 8 years, 9 months ago
                these are broad laws, many under RICO, which give the govt authority to prove you guilty before innocent. The IRS does this as well. are people screaming in the streets? no. they don't want SWAT teams banging in their doors. Fear and ignorance.
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              • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 9 months ago
                I'm not disputing that at all.

                I'm only saying that I don't think the SWAT busted into her house in the middle of the night because it was the only one painted red on the street or whatever.

                If you read my other posts, I don't agree with asset seizure in principle (because it will be abused).

                Unfortunately the media has drowned out the original news stories (whatever they may contain) with the sheriff taking her vibrator away from her.
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                • Posted by $ jdg 8 years, 9 months ago
                  Even if the police have cause to think you've committed a crime -- any search should take place during daytime, and not by a SWAT team, unless they have specific reasons to expect armed resistance -- and the mere presence of guns at the location is not enough. Indeed, the average homeowner with guns would answer the door politely during the day, and follow the orders of police; but at night, or if a flash-bang through the window is the first thing he sees, he's going to shoot first and be absolutely right in doing so, regardless of whether the invaders shout "POLICE!" when the flash-bang goes off.

                  This needs to be added to the Bill of Rights. And the fact that it is needed says something (bad) about our police.
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            • Posted by 8 years, 9 months ago
              all charges were dropped. marijuana is not a dangerous substance. Why the overhanded violence?
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              • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 9 months ago
                No, its not, unfortunately it is the crime, escalation of drug types, etc., that can and often do occur when it's abused. We have a meth-addict in the family that is pretty much 'on the lam' right now with warrants for multiple felony robbery counts (he's robbing pharmacies to get the Sudafed to make his meth with). He started with marijuana.
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    • Posted by 8 years, 9 months ago
      I am sorry to hear that about your father in law. It wasn't clear in the story what her credentials were either. but if the state licensed her and she wasn't breaking any rules, they have no case. why were they bugging her in the first place. see, this is part of what is so chilling-how do you become the low hanging fruit to be SWATed? it does seem that drugs are always a risk for this to take place. I would not be surprised if these tactics are used to fuel power hungry agencies and line the pockets of those in charge. wonder if the Prosecutor is cut in on the deal. Michigan corruptness
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      • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 9 months ago
        You are on the same track that I was on... I'm feeling like its one of those stories where some details are intentionally left out or something. It's like she's saying "I'm cute, so believe me".

        I'm not calling her a liar, I'm just feeling like certain details are being omitted intentionally or something. Why did they decide to hit her house? that doesn't happen without a criminal complaint... I'm thinking she was loading up grandma to stop her whining so she just sleeps all day and the family reported elder abuse. Having 4 teenagers, ipads, iphones, 2 in front of her on the table during her testimony, just doesn't really fit the profile of my experience with caregivers. For taking care of 5 geriatric adults, it's an 18 hour a day job.. no doubt. Don't get all riled up here folks.. I'm curious as to what started it.

        For that matter... could have been the 4 teenagers raiding mom's "locked backpack stash" and selling it at school as well...

        Something is missing in the story... (like motive, complaint, pre-trial hearing details, etc.)
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        • Posted by strugatsky 8 years, 9 months ago
          All media stories have something missing... What is enough in the story is that I don't see any evidence for a SWAT team here, I don't see any evidence for stealing (call it what it is) her private possessions and I don't see any reason why the police force needs to be the super-judge after the courts found her not guilty of any crimes (no matter what the cops feel...). However, once we accept the fact that the US is now a Third World nation run by thugs in suits (just like the cannibals/presidents-for-life in 3-piece suits in Africa) with private SWAT teams, then everything comes logically together. Nothing new here, move along...
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        • Posted by NealS 8 years, 9 months ago
          Something is usually missing from every story that gets published. Perhaps that's just another method to try to divide us even more microscopically. Incomplete information can make us jump to erroneous conclusions that are completely opposite from each other. Published video is getting to be even worse, we don't see everything we think we see, and usually we hear even less. And all of these issues are brought to the public which just makes matters worse. Back in the day we didn't riot when we disagreed on some "news" story, and most of the time the whole world was not even aware of the incident. Today, one bad decision and the people burn their town down.

          In this particular case I'm sure glad it wasn't me whose stuff they took and refused to return or compensate for. I'd probably be locked up for my methods of demanding my stuff back. That prosecutor that threatened the civil suit after it was found no crime took place needs to be investigated, but we'll never get the rest of this story either. It'll go on too long or never get resolved and everyone else will just forget about it. Besides the media doesn’t want to publish good “news”, and the people don’t seem to want to hear it either, it’s too boring.

          This is the same lesson we haven't learned in teaching and learning history, much of it is just incomplete and/or totally false information. That's why things continue to go astray, we just haven't learned enough from history that we can actually put to use, mainly because it's false, we ignore it, we twist it, or we just don't believe it. Need I say the expanding differences between "D" and "R", and "L" and "C". Because of this, man is most likely destined to much more dissention, many more rebellions, more of everything, as populations continue to increase. Riots, poverty, discrimination, rejection, even war, are inevitable if we can’t get the complete facts and reveal the whole truth in history. Everyone seems to have an agenda and will do what they need to do to follow it. That’s just my two cents worth, it don't mean nothin`.
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          • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 9 months ago
            I agree... 'published video' is particularly a pet-peeve of mine. If it was clear 1080p video, it doesn't get published... it's like videos of Sasquatch or whatever, the only thing that seems to turn up is grainy-ass stuff that looks like either a guy in a guile suit, or a car tire (about that much detail), but we're supposed to believe its big foot.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years, 9 months ago
    I thought this article was going to be funny, but it's sick.

    If she's like my family, she doesn't have much value in the stuff in our house. But having it all taken unexpectedly by fire other peril would be devastating. Even if she had committed the crime, they are not seizing real assets. It probably cost more to store them for a year then they could get selling them. it's not about assets. They're just creating a royal hassle.
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    • Posted by kddr22 8 years, 9 months ago
      I agree. My oldest son lost a car in his name at 18 worth in excess of 10000$ for a misdem charge of marj possession, we never denied the charge just the excessiveness of it
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      • Posted by NealS 8 years, 9 months ago
        And think about the owners of small rental properties such as a four-plex. I owned a four-plex and at the four-plex next door was a drug bust. Some authority (law would not divulge to outsiders) seized the whole building. A landlord is practically banned from evicting a drug dealer, and there is little he can do to stop them, but yet is held responsible for someone selling drugs out his property. No wonder people go crazy. After that seizure I got out and sold my four-plex. Total retirement is wonderful, little responsibility to anyone.
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  • Posted by johnpe1 8 years, 9 months ago
    Thank You, Kaila! . this is a perfect example of the
    insane practice of looting people for sport which our
    "law enforcement" agencies perform. . immoral. -- j
    .
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