Pubdate: Sat, 11 Oct 2003
Source: Sun Herald (MS)
Copyright: 2003, The Sun Herald
Contact:  http://www.sunherald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/432
Author: Robin Fitzgerald

$255,000 SOUGHT FOR 'POT' RAID

Hunting Club Leader Wants Compensation

HARRISON COUNTY - The president of a hunting club is seeking a $255,000 
settlement from the county over the raid last month that destroyed more 
than 500 plants suspected of being marijuana.

The demand, written on behalf of Marion "Bucky" Waltman, accuses Sheriff 
George H. Payne Jr. and his agents of negligence, trespassing, invasion of 
privacy and defamation. Waltman said he hired an attorney after the 
Sheriff's Department refused to resolve losses and damage incurred in the 
raid Sept. 8 on land the Boarhog Hunting Club leases off Herman Ladner Road.

A civil lawsuit has not been filed. However, a letter from Waltman's 
attorney to county supervisors and the sheriff demands the cash settlement 
and implies that federal charges also may be filed.

"I want them to fix the road and gate they destroyed, compensate for my 
plants, arrest the people that were trespassing and apologize to the 
hunting clubs," Waltman said.

"I think (Payne) made a mistake and now he doesn't know how to fix it. I've 
just had my 12th heart surgery. I don't need this stress."

County Attorney Joe Meadows had no comment.

Payne's only comment was, "we were assisting the DEA-HIDTA task force on an 
investigation they were conducting. Everything that was done was done in 
the interests of public safety."

HIDTA stands for High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a federally funded 
law enforcement effort. No one from the DEA or HIDTA returned calls to The 
Sun Herald.

The letter from attorney Chet Nicholson claims that "the sheriff's acts and 
omissions resulted in general damages, damages to reputation, emotional 
distress and mental anguish, and general outrage."

Waltman, 53, maintains the plants were kenaf, which is harvested as a wood 
substitute and as food for deer and wildlife. Waltman said he grows it for 
deer.

"I used to be just an old hunting club president," Waltman said. "Now, 
people know me as the old dope-grower."

He said he bought the seeds for $700 from a company in Senatobia and has 
planted kenaf in three other fields.

Waltman learned about the raid while watching a television news report, he 
said, and contacted the sheriff, asking him not to destroy the crop.

Samples seized in the raid were sent to the state Crime Lab. The sheriff 
earlier this week said it could take months for test results because of the 
lab's backlog of work.

The sheriff previously reported that people who were seen picking leaves 
from the plants threatened youngsters who were riding four-wheelers on the 
land. State narcotics officers have said that smoking kenaf can cause illness.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman