cannabisnews.com: Bungling Grams Case Erodes Public Trust Bungling Grams Case Erodes Public Trust Posted by FoM on December 12, 1999 at 11:28:28 PT Opinion Source: Pioneer Planet The Anoka County Sheriff's office has more work to do to restore public confidence in its integrity and competence.An outside investigation by the Dakota County sheriff has revealed serious irregularities during a July traffic stop of Morgan Grams, son of U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn. The younger Grams was stopped after Sen. Grams asked the Anoka County sheriff for help finding his son, who has experienced legal and drug problems in the past.The Dakota County investigation found no evidence that Sen. Grams asked for any improper special treatment for his child. But it does seem clear that Morgan Grams received unusual treatment.Morgan Grams was was not detained for questioning or a sobriety test and was charged with no crime even though the car contained 10 bags of marijuana, an open can containing beer and as many as 20 empty beer cans. He should have been charged with several offenses and investigated for others, according to the outside review. Instead, evidence was destroyed and reports were not properly filed.So comprehensive were the irregularities that Dakota County Sheriff Don Gudmundson said it was hard to identify anything the Anoka County officers did right after stopping Grams.The Washington County attorney's office, which reviewed this report, is filing two misdemeanor charges against Morgan Grams. Evidence to support other possible charges has been lost. Prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges against anyone else.On Friday, Chief Deputy Peter Beberg, who conducted the stop of Grams, resigned in response to this investigation. But Anoka County Sheriff Larry Podany must take further action to determine whether this was a cover-up or mere bungling and whether additional discipline is in order.Dakota County investigators appear to have done a thorough and honest job of probing this matter. That should help ease, but will not wholly prevent, erosion of public confidence that law enforcement treats all citizens equally.Meanwhile, though he may have asked for nothing improper, these events are unlikely to help Sen. Grams politically. If anyone involved thought they were doing the senator a favor by bending the rules for his son, they were wrong.Published: Sunday, December 12, 1999 © 1999 PioneerPlanet - St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer PressRelated Articles:Anoka Deputy Resigns; Grams' Son to Face Charges-12/10/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3957.shtmlSenator's Son To Face Misdemeanor Charges - 12/10/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3954.shtmlCops Strayed From Procedure For Grams' Son - 12/09/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3936.shtmlSheriff Irritated That Grams Commented On Report - 12/09/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3932.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on December 12, 1999 at 11:53:00 PT The Whitewash Cometh... I've been expecting this.In ancient France, when you wanted to bribe an official, particularly a cop, you gave them a pot of wine. It was called the 'pot vin'. In America, we give jobs. This Beberg will need one. Notice how the reporter has neatly tried to sidestep the obvious - and earlier reported - fact that Grams Senior *did* indeed call the police, directly? The very fact that he did so, and no doubt identified himself as a "SENATOR"(!) would have been sufficient leverage enough to have the cops pull out all the stops. I'd very much like to see the radio logs for that night. Or have they, too, been "lost", as was the evidence?This is one more example of 'expedient policing', particularly with regards to one of the political elite. Were it some poor Black or latino kid, the outcome would have been as tragic as it is predictable. But this kid gets to walk.Don't be surprised in the next few months if Beberg winds up as a "Special Assistant' to Grams... no doubt as a Drug War expert.While 2 million non-violent people rot in jail for what Gram's son did, but didn't have any political clout to stop the wheels of justice from grinding *them* to a pulp.Or, as the French used to say, "Vive le pot vin!" [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: