Kansas Couple's Home Raided After Buying Hydroponic
Equipment
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. A Leawood couple, former CIA workers: Indoor gardening prompted pot raid  
Two
former CIA employees whose Leawood home was fruitlessly searched for
marijuana during a two-state drug sweep claim they were illegally targeted,
possibly because they had bought indoor growing supplies to raise vegetables.
Adlynn
and Robert Harte sued this week to get more information about why sheriff’s
deputies searched their home last April 20 as part of Operation Constant
Gardener — a sweep conducted by agencies in Kansas and Missouri that netted
marijuana plants, processed marijuana, guns, growing paraphernalia and cash
from several other locations.
The
date of April 20 long has been used by marijuana enthusiasts to celebrate the
illegal drug and more recently by law enforcement for raids and crackdowns.
But the Hartes’ attorney, Cheryl Pilate, said she suspects the couple’s
1,825-square-foot split level was targeted because they had bought hydroponic
equipment to grow a small number of tomatoes and squash plants in their
basement.
“With
little or no other evidence of any illegal activity, law enforcement officers
make the assumption that shoppers at the store are potential marijuana
growers, even though the stores are most commonly frequented by backyard
gardeners who grow organically or start seedlings indoors,” the couple’s
lawsuit says.
The
couple filed the suit this week under the Kansas Open Records Act after
Johnson County and Leawood denied their initial records requests, with
Leawood saying it had no relevant records. The Hartes say the public has an
interest in knowing whether the sheriff’s department’s participation in the
raids was “based on a well-founded belief of marijuana use and cultivation at
the targeted addresses, or whether the raids primarily served a publicity purpose.”
The
suit filed in Johnson County District Court said the couple and their two
children — a 7-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son — were “shocked and
frightened” when deputies armed with assault rifles and wearing bullet proof
vests pounded on the door of their home around 7:30 a.m. last April 20.
During
the sweep, the court filing said, the Hartes were told they had been under
surveillance for months, but the couple “know of no basis for conducting such
surveillance, nor do they believe such surveillance would have produced any
facts supporting the issuance of a search warrant.” The suitolor: #000099;">Leawood
City Administrator Scott Lambers said Friday that he couldn’t comment on
pending litigation. The sheriff’s office also had no comment.
“Obviously
with an ongoining, “No items taken.”
Pilate
said no one in the Harte family uses illegal drugs and no charges were filed.
The lawsuit noted Adlynn Harte, who works for a financial planning firm, and
Robert Harte, who cares for the couple’s children, each were required to pass
rigorous background checks for their previous jobs working for the CIA in
Washington, D.C. Pilate said she couldn’t provide any other details about
their CIA employment.
Pilate
said any details gleaned from the open records suit could be used in a future
federal civil rights lawsuit.
“You
can’t go into people’s homes and conduct searches without probable cause,”
Pilate said.
Leawood
City Administrator Scott Lambers said Friday that he couldn’t comment on
pending litigation. The sheriff’s office also had no comment.
“Obviously
with an ongoing lawsuit we are not able to talk about any details of it until
it’s been played out in court,” said Johnson County Deputy Tom Erickson.
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