Posted on 02/15/2017 9:55:25 PM PST by nickcarraway
The borough paid $75,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man arrested in 2013 for having illegal bath salts, when in fact he had legal, bathtub bath salts.
Anthony Small, of the Bronx, N.Y., was a passenger in a vehicle on I-95 south in Fort Lee on Oct. 28, 2013, according to his suit filed against Fort Lee, Police Chief Ken Bendul and several Fort Lee police officers.
He and two others in the vehicle were coming back from a meeting with producers of "a popular VH1 television show" that was going to feature Small's clothing line. Police stopped the vehicle for alleged minor motor vehicle violations.
Three officers removed them from the vehicle and questioned them at length by the side of the road, the suit says. Officer Richard Hernandez saw a plastic bag in the vehicle containing a blue granular substance the thought was illegal bath salts.
The salts were in their original packaging, which displayed the brand name "Soak," marketed to athletes to aid with muscle recovery, according to the product website.
Small explained that his girlfriend got the bath salts at a promotional event for the NFL. Hernandez asked to search the vehicle based on the presence of the bath salts and because the suspects came from what the police report called "a source city."
The three men gave permission for the search, the suit says. Police arrested Small and his companions based on the belief that the bath salts were the illegal kind.
Small was charged with distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of narcotic paraphernalia.
A judge set Small's bail at $25,000 with no option to pay 10 percent cash. Police strip-searched him and sent him to Bergen County Jail when he couldn't make bail immediately.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Only $75,000? The idiot Jersey cops got off easy.
Here in Maine, a woman was illegally strip-searched by the Knox County Sheriff’s Department in recent years.
She was awarded either $400,000 or $450,000, I forget which amount.
Police are always right, they are perfect, they never make mistakes.....sorry I wish law enforcement the best, its a tough job...but when they’re wrong, they’re wrong.
Like these federal marshals who tackled a defense attorney after his client, Ammon Bundy, and six others were acquitted at the Oregon Standoff trial in Portland last fall.
This video was released yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxJRrDKtk1U
Anybody who leaves ANYTHING visible in their car, at any time, no matter how innocent, is taking a risk. If you have a bag with powdered substances in it, even more so.
We can’t have that mentality. If they want to search your car, they’ll search it, whether you give them “consent” or not.
Here’s a guide that says “anything visible” can include a second cell phone, an air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror, “too many” fast-food wrappers, or even a Bible.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?s=ea6871b93e6c52e337db2435a45e582f&t=171952
Also note in that same source that they might pull you over if you are driving below the speed limit, if your car looks better than it should for its age, or if you have a “support your local police” sticker.
You see? This is why I wake up every morning! You learn something new EVERY day. I swear I had no idea there was such a thing as “illegal” bath salts...
Or they were heading to, or passing, "a destination city", or driving on a highway that connects any source or destination with another one, which includes any interstate highway in the U.S. and many others as well. That's another common subterfuge.
If if’s bath salts, how can it be illegal?
Never consent to a search.
If they have to ask, they don’t have probable cause, that means it’s just a fishing expedition and NOTHING good can come from it. Sit on the side of the road for 4 hours and invoke your 6th amendment, the right to counsel.
If if’s bath salts, how can it be illegal?
*********
Synthetic drugs that aren’t technically illegal because their exact chemical composition is unknown to lawmakers (synthetic marijuana in crystal form??) is often sold as “bath salts”.
Never voluntarily give consent for a cop to search your vehicle. Good advice from a cop.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.