TPD officers under investigation - Grand Jury?

[cannon_fodder]

Black helicopters anyone?  I think a 'working lab' would need to be in order.  What you're suggesting is plain silly, even for rogue cops.

Hate to agree with shadows, but with the right household chemicals you could be charged with possession of precursors and it would go down as a lab bust.  I've seen it over and over.  Camp fuel, some Kitty litter, empty 2 liters, some ag grade lye, and some grout cleaner = Meth lab.   Generally the busts for precursors are on known Meth heads... but still. It can be pretty weak.

[Hoss]

Hate to agree with shadows, but with the right household chemicals you could be charged with possession of precursors and it would go down as a lab bust.  I've seen it over and over.  Camp fuel, some Kitty litter, empty 2 liters, some ag grade lye, and some grout cleaner = Meth lab.   Generally the busts for precursors are on known Meth heads... but still. It can be pretty weak.

That's the key though...'could be charged'.

Has anyone been charged that way that didn't already have paper on a similar offense?  That's my question.

[patric]

Hate to agree with shadows, but with the right household chemicals you could be charged with possession of precursors and it would go down as a lab bust.  I've seen it over and over.  Camp fuel, some Kitty litter, empty 2 liters, some ag grade lye, and some grout cleaner = Meth lab.   Generally the busts for precursors are on known Meth heads... but still. It can be pretty weak.

The same is true for "bomb making materials".  Ive read of instances where that was little more than a battery and some wires.
It doesnt have to hold up in court, only be sufficient to put the suspect through hell and make them look bad in the media. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/01/national/main2420426.shtml?source=RSSattr=Entertainment_2420426

Outside the courthouse, Michael Rich, a lawyer for both of the men, said the description of a bomb-like device could be used for any electronic device.

"If somebody had left a VCR on the ground it would have been a device with wires, electronic components and a power source," he said.

[patric]

That's the key though...'could be charged'.

Has anyone been charged that way that didn't already have paper on a similar offense?  That's my question.

The answer would be Yes.


A Missouri judge has ruled that merely buying cold tablets and lithium batteries -- items that could be used to manufacture methamphetamine -- does not provide police with an excuse to stop and search the buyer. In a case where members of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force tailed a man buying two boxes of Sudafed tablets at one store and watch batteries at another, then stopped and searched him, Judge William Syler ruled on April 21 that task force members had engaged in an unwarranted and unreasonable detention and search and that the evidence seized as a result must be suppressed.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/285/coldpills.shtml

A Loveland man who was charged with making methamphetamine at his property near the old sugar factory, and then cleared of the charges, has sued law enforcement agencies, claiming they falsely arrested and prosecuted him.
Myers was charged with two counts of possession of a precursor of meth, manufacturing of a controlled substance and possession of between 25 and 450 grams of a controlled substance.  Prosecutors dropped the charges two months later when the alleged drugs that officers seized tested negative for any illegal substances.
http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=25700

Eddy, Roger Allen Jr. v. State, COCA Case No. F-2001-336 (April 12, 2002)
(Double Jeopardy/Double Punishment; Excessive Sentence; Jury Instructions- misleading/confusing; Simultaneous convictions for manufacturing and possession of methamphetamine; possession of precursor substance violated double punishment. Convictions for possession of precursor and methamphetamine reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss. http://www.ok.gov/~oids/Jury_Inst_Mislead.htm

I could go on, but the point has been made.  You can go into almost any home and collect all the ingredients for a meth lab, and make it look pretty damning when gathered together and laid out on the sidewalk for a photo op.

[FOTD]

17 is the rumor number....that frees up some of the budget and reduces the threat number...

[shadows]

The problem is that even if you are not guilty and an unnamed neighbor points an accusing finger it can cost thousands of dollars.  Sue the city will produce a bleeding heart prosecutor with "Judge these protectors of the citizens who are constantly putting their lives on line must follow ever lead."  A professor in class once said if you are in an accident step out of the car and close the door and it will require a search warrant.  In Tulsa that would end up like the OHP and the Ambulance attendant's conflict of interest. 

[patric]

A professor in class once said if you are in an accident step out of the car and close the door and it will require a search warrant.  In Tulsa that would end up like the OHP and the Ambulance attendant's conflict of interest. 

I may be dating myself, but Im old enough to remember a time when if you were pulled over, getting out of your car to meet the officer was a courtesy and a gesture of respect.
Somewhere, they changed the rules.

[fotd]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100331_11_A1_Federa970443

WOW

[shadows]

That's the key though...'could be charged'.

Has anyone been charged that way that didn't already have paper on a similar offense?  That's my question.

YES

Having been a non-involved by-stander in a set up of evidence and the use of "unless a no contest plea a jury could give you life in prison" It has been happening all along.  To defend the action requires thousands of dollars in attorney fees. The citizen looks the other way at the very mention of " it all involves drugs". If the grand jury looks they will find many infractions like the one cited in the article.
.

[nathanm]

The thing is, you don't even have to be particularly aggressive with the meth-heads, they practically come to you. A client of mine once defended a guy charged with making some ungodly amount of money selling meth. They seized around $500,000 in cash when they arrested him. This client of mine, being an excellent defense attorney managed to poke enough holes in the state's case that the guy was acquitted. The guy then sued a bunch of government agencies over the whole thing.

Two months later, he was arrested on charges of...making meth. The second time around the police didn't do so much screwing up, so the guy ended up getting 20 years.

A real drug dealer is usually pretty stupid, and therefore easy to catch without any shenanigans.

[Breadburner]

Yes....These two people were good productive citizens that brought alot to the community.....I could care less what the cops had to do to get this scum off the street.....Spend some time and find out what kind of people they were....Lets see how many of you would like to have them over for tea and crumpets.....

[fotd]

Yes....These two people were good productive citizens that brought alot to the community.....I could care less what the cops had to do to get this scum off the street.....Spend some time and find out what kind of people they were....Lets see how many of you would like to have them over for tea and crumpets.....

What has happened to the godd ole USA?

[custosnox]

Yes....These two people were good productive citizens that brought alot to the community.....I could care less what the cops had to do to get this scum off the street.....Spend some time and find out what kind of people they were....Lets see how many of you would like to have them over for tea and crumpets.....

Yes, let's suspend civil liberties and due process.  Hell, we don't need em.  If we think that someone is behaving in an immoral way let's just throw em in jail.  In fact, why bother with the costs of jail, let's just burn em at the stake and be done with it.  You just have to love this kind of logic

[Breadburner]

Yes...What has happened to it when we let it become over-run with drug dealing slime like the scags the cops were trying to put away......Do some research on the scum-bags before you start running your holier than thow yaps.....

[fotd]

Yes...What has happened to it when we let it become over-run with drug dealing slime like the scags the cops were trying to put away......Do some research on the scum-bags before you start running your holier than thow yaps.....

It is time to go after the television execs, the banksters, the corporate polluting pigs! Round 'em up.

Guess it depends how you define slime and scags. I think we know what a scum bag looks like. Too bad someone's parent failed to use one before that someone turned into a baker.