Pubdate: Thu, 23 Apr 2015
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2015 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: Maria Ines Taracena

LEGAL THEFT, PART I

Owner of 420 House files a lawsuit against TPD claiming illegal forfeitur
e

On a May evening about two years ago, Ron Johnson claims he woke up to
someone banging at his front door. He dragged himself out of bed and
opened up. Before he could even ask what was going on, a Tucson Police
officer handcuffed and shoved him in the back of a patrol car for the
next six hours.

Two days prior, he had suffered a heart attack and was trying to
recover at home. While in custody, he says he repeatedly told officers
he did not feel good, but any request for medical attention was ignored.

Johnson's home on Fourth Avenue quickly flooded with other officers
who, without a warrant, probable cause or Johnson's permission,
drilled through his safe, took money, tens of thousands of dollars in
jewelry, his computer, all of his medical marijuana and the five
plants he cultivated, as well as pot paraphernalia.

They also confiscated his heart and blood pressure prescription
medication and, down the road, tried to seize his home.

The cops alleged he didn't have his medical marijuana card, making his
plants an "illegal grow operation."

"What they are doing is robbing people and it is a problem
nationwide," he says. Johnson is the founder of the 420 Social Club, a
house where medical marijuana patients can go to hang out and
medicate. (The house the city tried to take.) "They kept the money,
the jewelry, and they told me I wasn't getting any of the
paraphernalia back or the plants. They don't have to find you guilty
of anything. They just come in and take your things. They were trying
to say that this is a criminal house."

Ultimately, Johnson was charged with several felonies.

There had been a shooting near his home that same night, and they
pinned it on him, he claims.

While he fought to get the issues sorted out, law enforcement agents
were required to check up on him (to make sure he hadn't bailed). On
Valentine's Day last year, Johnson refused to cooperate and tried to
leave the house, so they tackled, arrested and charged him with
disorderly conduct.

That charge was dropped April 2014 and Pima County Superior Court
dismissed the felonies in June.

On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, Johnson's attorney, Vernon Peltz, filed a
complaint against the city of Tucson, Tucson Police Chief Roberto
VillaseA+/-or and the law enforcement agents who entered Johnson's
home and confiscated his stuff.

The accusations against the TPD officers include unlawful seizure of a
person and property, and use of excessive force. There's also one of
negligent hiring, training and failure to discipline against
VillaseA+/-or.

"That negligence of said defendants ... was a proximate cause of the
violations of the plaintiffs civil rights," said the complaint
obtained by the Tucson Weekly a few days before it was filed.

Johnson hopes to shed some light locally on the state's civil
forfeiture statues, which give law enforcement the green light to take
your stuff without even charging you with a crime (80 percent of
people usually aren't charged, according to the Institute of Justice).

In Arizona, law enforcement tries to seize as much property as they
can because they get to keep most of the "funds" raised this way. The
report "Policing for Profit," says that from 2000 to 2011, civil
forfeiture revenue in the state increased by nearly 400
percenta=C2=80"hundreds of millions in civil forfeiture revenue.

Law enforcement can use that money to pay for staff salaries,
equipment, travel, witness protection programs and even drug and gang
prevention classes. Some citizens pay doublea=C2=80"part tax dollars, par
t
civil forfeiture.

The government doesn't have to prove that you are guilty, either.
Rather, it is the owner of the property who has to prove his or her
innocence, as well as the "innocence" of the property seized.

In Johnson's case, since the criminal charges against him were
unfounded, now it is his money, jewelry and other items that stand
trial.

Also, because it's civil and not criminal, you're not entitled to any
free legal help. You have to pay for your own attorney, which is one
of the reasons these actions sometimes go unnoticed.

"Unfortunately, it happens to people who don't have the funds," Peltz
says. "People end up losing their property and they don't have the
ability to file a complaint. There should be prosecution there. The
reason the cops keep doing it is because they don't see a punishment.
They get to keep what they steal."

Johnson says it is not a war he wanted to fight, but he is in the
position to do it, not just for himself, but others who find
themselves in similar circumstances.

"Somebody has to say 'enough,' somebody has to break the ice," he
says. "Once you get the dominoes started, the dominoes continue to
fall."

Next week, the Tucson Weekly will talk with Tucson Police Department
representatives for a follow-up on this legal complaint.
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