Pubdate: Sat, 21 Apr 2001
Source: Battle Creek Enquirer (MI)
Copyright: 2001 Battle Creek Enquirer
Contact: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1359
Author: Trace Christenson, The Enquirer
Note: Trace Christenson covers courts and crime.

CITY TO LOCK ALLEGED DRUG HOUSE

Owner Says She Will Appeal Decision, Fight In Court

Charmika Griffin, Owner of the home at 30 Hancock Court that police
raided in January in search of illegal drugs

Battle Creek city officials will notify a homeowner Monday she is
being locked out of her house because police say they found drugs
there twice within one month.

City Clerk Deborah Owens said she will mail a certified notification
to Charmika Griffin that the city commission has voted to padlock her
home for 90 days because it is a suspected drug house.

The commission voted 7-2 Tuesday to make Griffin's home at 30 Hancock
Court the first to be closed under a 1992 city ordinance.

"I am going to send the letter on Monday and ask the paper (Battle
Creek Enquirer) to publish it in the legal ads on Thursday," Owens
said. "That way she will have the opportunity to receive the letter
before it is published in the paper."

City Attorney Clyde Robinson said Griffin will have 14 days after
receipt of the letter or publication of the legal notice, whichever is
later, to appeal the commission's decision to the circuit court.

Robinson said the court would be asked to decide if the commission
made its decision based on competent evidence.

If Griffin appeals, the process of padlocking her home stops until
there is a court ruling, Robinson said. If she doesn't, the city would
then notify of her of a deadline to leave the house.

"If she doesn't appeal, she will have to absent herself from the
premises," he said.

Griffin, who lives in the house with three children, said Friday she
will appeal the action.

"I have an attorney and we are going to go all the way," she said. "I
got a lot of support. They don't know what they are dealing with."

Although nearby property owners have complained to police that people
in the house are selling drugs, Griffin, 30, said early this week she
is being singled out and that drugs were not being sold from the house.

She repeated again Friday that there are much bigger dealers who city
police could target.

The padlock law allows the city to board up houses for up to one year
if police raid and find evidence of drugs, prostitution, gambling or
illegal alcohol sales twice within six months.

In investigation reports and search warrants, officers allege that
Griffin sold marijuana to a police informant on Jan. 24.

On Jan. 6, police said they stopped someone leaving the house and were
told there was marijuana packaged for sale inside the house.

As a result of the Jan. 6 raid, Griffin faces a charge of possession
of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Lt. Michael Sherzer said police began looking for a possible house to
close under the ordinance after a similar law in Grand Rapids was
upheld in the Michigan courts.

He said a possible house on Greenwood Street raided in December was
not picked because police could not verify if the city had sent a
letter notifying the owner of the home that the house might be closed
if it was raided again.

"Hancock was the next one to come around," Sherzer said Friday. "It is
a high crime area and a high drug area.

"We are not targeting her, we are targeting the house."

Police said they can't rule out homes just because the owner has
children, otherwise drug dealers could use them as a shield against
raids.

And he said rental properties can be difficult because even if a
property is raided twice in six months - a requirement under the
ordinance - the occupant might be different. But he said the law will
apply to all property, rental or owner-occupied.

Sherzer said police have compiled a list of about 40 homes where drug
raids have been conducted in recent months.

"If we have a house that is on that list and it continues to be a dope
house, then we might speed up the process to get it raided a second
time. If we have nuisance houses, then we have to get rid of the things."

Lt. Jackie Hampton said the padlock law is one way police can combat
drugs.

"It can be more effective than just raids," Hampton said. "It can be a
useful resource, especially for neighbors who have to deal with a
nuisance. And it hopefully will become a deterrent."

"We are not targeting houses," he said. "but if they continue to sell
drugs . . ."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake