cannabisnews.com: Amputee Sues Over Confiscated Scooter





Amputee Sues Over Confiscated Scooter
Posted by CN Staff on March 24, 2005 at 10:43:07 PT
By The Associated Press 
Source: Associated Press 
Portland, Ore. -- Vicki Marie Tyler, a diabetic amputee with a medical marijuana card, says she was asleep on her couch when 13 police officers raided her North Portland home looking for drugs.Though officers found less than an ounce of marijuana during the 2003 raid, they seized her electric scooter on the grounds in was bought with drug money. A jury last year acquitted Tyler of drug-dealing charges.
Now Tyler is trying to make it 2-for-2 in the courts, filing a federal lawsuit against the Portland Police Bureau because it kept her scooter for more than three months — until a Multnomah County judge ordered the bureau to give it back.The police seized her scooter, among other pieces of property, even though the warrant did not list any property eligible for seizure, said David D. Park, Tyler’s attorney.The police can seize property thought to be bought with drug profits, such as guns and expensive stereo equipment. But Park said the police had no reason to believe that Tyler, an arthritic diabetic with kidney failure who uses a prosthetic leg, used drug profits to buy a scooter that requires a prescription from a physician.The suit seeks $15,000 for emotional pain and suffering. The suit also seeks punitive damages, claiming the police either maliciously sought to punish her or recklessly deprived her of her right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.The Portland city attorney’s office had not received a copy of the suit Wednesday. A Portland police spokesman declined to comment to The Oregonian.The lawsuit names 13 Portland police officers, including former Officer Jason H. Sery, who shot and killed an unarmed motorist named James Jahar Perez last year. Sery was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by a grand jury.Information from The Oregonian Source: Associated Press (Wire)Published: March 24, 2005Copyright: 2005 The Associated Press CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #14 posted by afterburner on March 29, 2005 at 07:20:34 PT
The Federal Carrot to LEO's
US MA: Spoils Of Drug War Not An Exact ScienceURL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n522.a05.html
Pubdate: Mon, 28 Mar 2005
Source: Sentinel And Enterprise, The (MA)
Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
 Excerpt:"If officers work with the state, they get half of the cash. "If they work with federal officials, they get 80 percent, said Gerald Poirier, commander of the North Worcester County Drug Task Force."
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Comment #13 posted by john wayne on March 26, 2005 at 00:44:37 PT
stealing from cripples
let's call it what it is.  Because these low-life cops have traded their human dignity for a few potential bux. They thought "hey, maybe we can sell it." And I thought the drug-cop image couldn't be further besmirched.
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Comment #12 posted by The GCW on March 24, 2005 at 17:48:02 PT
SWATSTIKA should be proud.
SWATSTIKA = police; police = SWATSTIKA.Very low grade of human.
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Comment #11 posted by mayan on March 24, 2005 at 16:27:47 PT
Grandstanding
The politicians are only grandstanding regarding Schiavo. If they truly valued human life they never would have supported the Iraq war!Regarding the article, all I can say is...PIGS!!!
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on March 24, 2005 at 16:27:33 PT
Sam
I didn't know that about Tom Harkin. Didn't Karen Ann Quinlan's case make it ok to remove life support? I also remember that because she lapsed into a coma after taking a Valium and drinking a beer it accelerated the drug war if I remember correctly.http://www.karenannquinlanhospice.org/http://www.karenannquinlanhospice.org/new_page_3.htm
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Comment #9 posted by Sam Adams on March 24, 2005 at 16:17:46 PT
dems
Sure, I understand what you're saying, good people don't want to fight dirty! It makes sense, but, if there's no referee to enforce the rules, it very quickly becomes fight dirty or lose.It's just frustrating/pathetic when the Dems say they need issues when there are several obvious ones just sitting there. With this latest Shiavo thing, instead of bringing up the right-to-die issue, Democrat Tom Harkin introduced a bill empowering the federal government to override state rulings on removing life support. 
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on March 24, 2005 at 14:20:04 PT
Sam
Maybe I should try to say more. I believe medical marijuana would have moved forward under a Democratic Presidency a little easier. Fighting fairly is hard to do when the ones you are fighting will use dirty tricks. I wish the hate that comes from the right would calm down and stop being so mean to those who don't agree with them. 
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 24, 2005 at 13:59:38 PT
Sam
I've followed the Schiavo case very closely because the issue of the right to die is something important to me. They call people hawks or doves. Doves don't like to fight. That might appear weak but it is a strength too. Does this make sense to you?
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Comment #6 posted by Sam Adams on March 24, 2005 at 13:51:05 PT
What a great bunch of guys!
Great! You know, we shouldn't punish these brutes, we should instead rely on them to dictate criminal justice policy to our elected officials. Oh wait a minute, we already do!Seriously, now, why can't the Democrats argue in favor of medical MJ and get stories like this on the front page of the paper? Look at the the Republicans have seized the day: they drive the debate forward aggressively, using something like Terry Schiavo to attack the Dems. The Dems do nothing.They used to know how to fight - remember when they stopped Barry Goldwater with the ad featuring a little girl picking flowers with a mushroom cloud behind her?  
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Comment #5 posted by dongenero on March 24, 2005 at 13:09:43 PT
seizure/forfeiture = extortion
These seizure laws are so horribly abused by the police I find it hard to believe it is tolerated in our great, free land.Here we have a diabetic amputee with a motorized scooter. As if she is some big drug kingpin. Break into her house and steal her property.Another shakedown. State sanctioned extortion. It's a slippery slope and it's evidence of a country and government in decline.Main Entry: ex·tort
Pronunciation: ik-'stort
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Latin extortus, past participle of extorquEre to wrench out, extort, from ex- + torquEre to twist -- more at TORTURE
: to obtain from a person by force, intimidation, or undue or illegal powerMain Entry: ex·tor·tion
Pronunciation: ik-'stor-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : the act or practice of extorting especially money or other property; especially : the offense committed by an official engaging in such practice
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Comment #4 posted by OverwhelmSam on March 24, 2005 at 12:00:13 PT
This Guy Has The Right Idea.
If they abuse you in any way, sue them for damgages. And keep on suing until they stop abusing their authority.
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Comment #3 posted by painwithnoinsurance on March 24, 2005 at 11:57:35 PT
legal crime
They should pay for damage they caused to the property too like a broken front door and disturbing the peace. Just a bunch of legal thugs in a so called free country.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on March 24, 2005 at 11:05:55 PT
The Pot Police
never cease to amaze me at how low they can go.Any officer with any sense of humanity and integrity about them would have quit that day they were asked to be part of such an action. They sure earned their swine medal that day.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 24, 2005 at 10:47:06 PT
Cited Article from Snipped Source
Amputee Sues Police for Taking Scooter Vicki Marie Tyler says Portland officers had the machine for months, after a search of her home for drugs. Thursday, March 24, 2005Ashbel S. GreenA diabetic amputee with a medical marijuana card has filed a federal lawsuit against the Portland Police Bureau for confiscating her electric scooter after raiding her house in search of drugs. 
  
   
Vicki Marie Tyler claims that police held her scooter for more than three months after the 2003 raid on the grounds that she bought it with drug-dealing profits -- even though they found less than an ounce of marijuana in her home. A jury last year acquitted Tyler of drug-dealing charges. Tyler claims in her suit that she was asleep on her couch on Dec. 2, 2003, when 13 officers burst into her North Portland home looking for drugs. The police seized her scooter, among other pieces of property, even though the warrant did not list any property eligible for seizure, said David D. Park, Tyler's attorney. Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/exclude/1111662105255730.xml?oregonian?EXCLUDE
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