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Civil Asset Forfeitures In Mi-- Ginnifer Hency Case-St. Clair County-2015


gretta47

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Hello

I Just recently came across this. I am just speechless and really bothered to realize that

any possessions we may have or own are at risk of just being taken  even when there is NO conviction....?  Has any change in the laws been made since last may? The wheels of govt move slow so I am pretty sure I would say, not........... How do you all deal with this hanging over your heads? I am re thinking being a caregiver !

I just watched her  you-tube  testimony to a Michigan house judiciary committee about how

her assets were confiscated despite NOT being charged.   I I first read the article by David Edwards in RAW STORY.... (below)

Medical marijuana user Ginnifer Hency told a group of Michigan lawmakers last week that a drug task force raided her home and kept ‘every belonging’ she owned — including her vibrator — even after a judge dismissed the charges against her.

Forbes contributor Jacob Sullum reported last week that Hency testified before the Michigan state House Judiciary Committee about what happened when her home in Smiths Creek was raided last July.

Hency explained that her neurologist had recommended medical marijuana to treat pain associated with multiple sclerosis. She is also registered in the state of Michigan as a caregiver for five other patients, giving her the ability to distribute medical marijuana.

Hency said that the six ounces in her locked backpack were in compliance with Michigan medical marijuana laws when a drug task force raided her home with four children present.

“They took everything, even though I was fully compliant with the Michigan medical marijuana laws,” she said. “They charged me with possession with intent to deliver, even though I’m allowed to possess and deliver.”

A St. Clair County judge dropped the charges against Hency, but for 10 months law enforcement officials have refused to give back her belongings.

“They have had my stuff for 10 months, my ladder, my iPad, my children’s iPads, my children’s phones, my medicine for my patients,” Hency noted. “Why a ladder? Why my vibrator, I don’t know either. Why TVs?”

“The prosecutor came out to me and said, ‘Well, I can still beat you in civil court. I can still take your stuff,’” Hency recalled, adding, “I was at a loss. I literally just sat there dumbfounded.”

“And I was just sitting there, like, thinking I was going to be able to get my stuff back, but not in this country. And that is why civil asset forfeiture in this state needs to change.”

According to Sullum, the Michigan House Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would require local law enforcement agencies to report forfeitures to the state police, and it would raise the standard of proof required for civil forfeiture in drug cases.

But under the proposed law, local agencies would continue to keep 100 percent of the proceeds from forfeitures, “which gives them a strong incentive to target people based on the assets they own instead of the threat they pose to public safety,” Sullum wrote.

Edited by gretta47
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UGGGGGGGGGG....I didnt realize this was such an epidemic acoss the board in the USA (seizures of all kinds, to such a radical extent) by the police.

I just have watched more videos and read more articles where the police are taking money from legitimate hard working people left and right....

So the bigger picture here is it is happening already a lot and MMMJ just hands it over on a silver platter.

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I believe the matter was resolved after her Judiciary Committee testimony and she had her property returned. Now she has that inward smile going on again.

 

That being said, forfeiture is still a law enforcement evil.

cops never returned nor admitted they took her vibrator.

 

somewhere out there is a cop with a room full of stolen womens panties and vibrators.

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Sometimes I wonder about these posts. This is not a fact pattern of this case. I think I know the fact pattern you are referencing, which was a completely different defendant in a completely different county, but another one of our clients. In addition, the number of pounds you cite is not correct, but very close.

 

Why associate these two completely different cases with one another?

Sorry Zap, I considered it might be a different case but I did hear the vibrator case from the defendant herself, on PGT. I think both cases were discussed on the same show.

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Sometimes I wonder about these posts. This is not a fact pattern of this case. I think I know the fact pattern you are referencing, which was a completely different defendant in a completely different county, but another one of our clients. In addition, the number of pounds you cite is not correct, but very close.

 

Why associate these two completely different cases with one another?

So did she get her tool back or not?

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