Posted on 07/06/2018 10:21:26 PM PDT by Simon Green
Miami-Dade police is on the hook for legal bills after cops illegally seized a cache of guns — and nearly $20,000 in stripper cash.
The department has agreed to pay more than $3,000 to defense lawyers hired by Ras Cates, 33, and his wife, Lizmixell Batista, a 20-year-old stripper at Cheetah Gentleman's Club in Hallandale Beach.
Presumably, the legal bills won't be paid in singles.
On May 25, an officer pulled over Cates and Batista, his passenger, when their car cut off a patrol car in Miami's West Little River neighborhood. From the car, patrol officers seized six guns, three of them assault-style rifles, plus the cash, suspected marijuana oil and several bottles of powerful codeine cough syrup without a valid prescription.
Miami-Dade police touted the arrest to a local TV station, showing off photos of the guns. “It’s amazing how something as simple as a traffic stop can lead us to crack a lot of cases,” a police spokesman told WFOR-CBS4. “A lot of serial killers are behind bars because of traffic stops."
The couple was charged with armed drug dealing, among other felony charges. But defense lawyers immediately challenged the arrest.
“What is most disturbing is that immediately following the arrest, the department went on TV and engaged in incendiary speculation without knowing the facts or even acknowledging the rampant violations of my clients’ constitutional rights," said defense attorney Jude Faccidomo.
Faced with defense evidence, prosecutors moved quickly to dismiss the case.
Cates told cops he legally owned the weapons, and also had a valid concealed-weapons permit. His story checked out. And body-camera footage showed that an officer, while friendly with Cates, never got permission to search the trunk but instead "commanded defendant to pop the trunk," prosecutors wrote.
"Search of the trunk was illegal," prosecutor Johnathan Nobile said in a memo explaining why the state declined to press charges.
Who possessed the drugs or possibly illegal codeine syrup was never clear either, prosecutors said. Neither Cates nor Batista admitted who owned the marijuana. And whether the syrup was actually codeine was also unclear — Miami-Dade police never took the liquid to the forensics lab for testing.
Lawyers for Cates are still trying to get the guns back.
As for the money, the bills were discovered in Batista's purse. Body-camera footage obtained by the Miami Herald showed she immediately told cops about her cash-only job. "I was supposed to go the bank to deposit the money. We got bills to pay, sweetie," she told police.
The Miami-Dade police department's legal bureau, suspecting it was dope money, asked a civil-court judge to allow the department to keep the $19,934 seized in the car. The department said a Miami-Dade police dog, Roxie, alerted that the cash had been "in close proximity" to large amounts of narcotics.
But at the hearing, a fellow stripper named Haley Heath testified that her friend, Batista, earned "significant cash tips" at the Cheetah club.
“I felt that the glitter on the seized cash was compelling evidence, but apparently the police department disagreed," said defense lawyer Faccidomo.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Rodney Smith agreed there was no probable cause for the seizure and ordered the money returning to the couple.
“You can’t get into a bar as a customer until you’re 21 but you can strip at an earlier age? That doesn’t make any sense.”
She can show her customers “the goods” but she can’t touch what they are drinking! Makes perfect sense doesn’t it?
“Only twenty years old but she looks like she’s got quite a few miles on her.”
And you can’t see where most of the “mileage” is being “put on!”
I matters not. The law dropped the ball. They can’t even prove it was cough syrup. They did not test it.
don’t those florida hicks know that everything has to be tested, it doesn’t matter what it looks like
There must be 50 girls a night working at Cheetahs, she might make 20 grand in 2 MONTHS if she was a 10, shes more like a 6.
You would think. I think they thought it was a slam dunk so they did not bother. Always cross your eyes and hope to die. Or cross your heart and dot your tee shirt.
When I say the “girl got skills” I didn’t say at what. The rest about work environment, I’ll bow to superior knowledge on. Been in a few strip joints, seen one you’ve seen them all, what ever coast or country. Give them back the money and keep the weapons. They are more fun to mess with. IMO
She might be a 6...but the guys in the bar will drink her to a 10.
That’s some serious winning for that couple right there. Hopefully they get their firearms back.
I bet Sleepy Sessions won’t like this.
Miami strip joints are the best in the country, full nudity, Wont go into one anywhere else, but I like the small joints, Cheetahs is a ripoff mega club.
They might have been doing the night drop for the club on the girls tip outs, or they were selling drugs to the girls in the club.
This place is going to be under some serious law enforcement surveillance.
True, guys that go to Cheetahs are easy marks.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM Stripper cash. H. Simpson
I bet there’s a lot of payoffs going on with these mega strip clubs, there’s more to this story for sure.
Don’t like the victims but the cops discredit themselves with this. And they try to steal the money, and so far have stolen his legally owned guns. The guy has a valid CCW. Know that, regardless of his line of work, the cops have no business holding his guns. Did they charge him with something? Nope.
The money need not be all from one night.
They would not need to go to the bank every day.
That gold chain is straight out of the 80’s. Something is amiss in the story that would normally favor the cops, but they messed up on the guns. I would not be surprised if it turned out to be a shake down gone amiss.
Agree, this story is only half-told.
“Cutting off a patrol car” is pretty close to the lamest excuse for a traffic stop I’ve heard. If they suspected DUI they would have followed the car a while to observe any signs of impairment, instead of stopping them right away.
Someone tipped the cops to the cash, and they went after it while “improvising” the required legalities. Cops pride themselves on crafting reports and records with whatever language is required to make a bust stick. But sometimes they throw a stick at the wrong dog.
a Miami-Dade police dog, Roxie, alerted that the cash had been "in close proximity" to large amounts of narcotics.
My dog must be retarded, can barely get a three word sentence out of him.
Her left eye looks like it’s takin care of it’s own bidniss...
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.