Beth LeBlanc

Lansing State Journal

A Port Huron Township couple whose marijuana charges were dismissed last month is considering civil action against the county.

Marijuana charges against Dale and Annette Shattuck were dismissed in late February by Circuit Judge Daniel Kelly, about a year and a half after the couple’s home, business and grow barn were raided.

In early March, TVs, laptops, iPads, phones, paperwork, guns, a lawn mower, and vehicles were returned to the family of six.

But a safe was returned without a key, a phone was damaged, vehicles had to be jumped after 19 months of storage, and several electronics were missing cords or controllers.

In the 19 months since their arrest, the Shattucks had to borrow money while their bank accounts were frozen, they were barred from volunteering at their children’s schools and, Annette Shattuck said, her children will always remember the July 2014 raid on their home.

“I and my family would have never in a million years thought this could happen if it didn’t happen to us,” Annette Shattuck said.

“… Reform needs to happen. Change needs to happen.”

The Shattucks’ lawyer, Michael Komorn, agreed.

“I don’t think that people who would look at this case would say it’s fair that a child had to go through that,” Komorn said.

The trouble started when the Shattucks opened a compassion center, DNA Alternative Wellness Clinic, after receiving approvals from Kimball Township in March and May 2014 for the business. The couple also contacted the St. Clair County Drug Task Force, asking the agency to perform an inspection of the facility.

The St. Clair County Drug Task Force raided the Shattucks’ marijuana dispensary, home and grow barn on July 28, 2014. The couple was charged five months later with possession with intent to deliver and manufacture marijuana and maintaining a drug house.

Kelly dismissed the charges Feb. 19, stating the Shattucks’ charges constituted entrapment by estoppel — in other words, defendants can’t be prosecuted when they reasonably relied on government approvals for their operation.

“… There is nothing that would alert a reasonable citizen that Kimball Township’s representation was erroneous,” Kelly wrote in his opinion.

“Further, it stands to reason that Defendants would not have called (Drug Task Force) and invited law enforcement to their compassion center for an inspection unless Defendants believed in good faith that DNA Alternative Wellness Center was properly licensed and operating within the law.”

About 10 days after Kelly issued his opinion, the civil forfeiture case against the couple also was dismissed.

But the couple maintains the return of their items is neither complete nor capable of making things right.

Annette Shattuck said seized paperwork is missing, electronics were returned broken and cords were missing from other devices.She said the home was left in disarray after the search.

The Shattucks still are unable to volunteer at their children’s school. They had to borrow money while theirs was tied up in the civil forfeiture process. And the couple’s credit scores, auto insurance costs and reputations are still suffering.

Besides damage to personal property, Komorn said, the emotional trauma inflicted on the Shattuck children during the raid and the time the family went without a large portion of their possessions can’t be remedied easily.

The Shattucks’ four children were with their grandmother at their Port Huron Township home when Drug Task Force members raided the home in tactical gear.

The Shattucks maintain Drug Task Force members pointed their guns at the children when they were in the home, but St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon takes issue with the claim.

“Those kids were rounded up and sat on the couch,” Donnellon said.

“We do not aim guns in the faces of children. Those deputies are parents, too.”

Donnellon, who worked on the Drug Task Force for several years prior to becoming sheriff, said the dynamic entry in tactical gear is made to protect both law enforcement and those inside the home.

"You’re going to always go in there to your advantage tactically so your deputies come home at the end of the day," Donnellon said.

“...It’s very easy to armchair quarterback what the Drug Task Force does. That is the most difficult job in law enforcement in St. Clair County and the most dangerous.”

Annette Shattuck said she observed a similar dynamic entry when the Drug Task Force raided the Shattucks' Kimball Township compassion center shortly before entering her home. She said she has little reason to question her children’s perception of the entry.

“I am shocked that Sheriff Donnellon has made any comments about the forced entry considering he wasn’t here,” Annette Shattuck said.

“When my children tell me a gun was pointed at them that seems very believable because I’ve witnessed a dynamic entry ... they dynamically entered the home knowing the possibility there were children in there was extraordinarily high.”

Donnellon said the search of the home was performed with a valid search warrant, but he said he understands and respects Kelly’s decision on the case.

"We acted within our legal boundaries with good faith with a valid search warrant," Donnellon said.

Donnellon said the Shattucks should alert the sheriff department of any missing or damaged property.

“If she is missing something, we will track it down,” Donnellon said.

Annette Shattuck said she and her attorney were working to recover the missing items.

“Do I have much faith we’ll get it back? No,” she said.

“… My opinion — they take all this property with absolutely no intention of giving it back.”

St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendling said he felt the investigation and prosecution were handled appropriately.

He said the complications with the case are a reflection of the changing interpretations of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.

“The statute is so difficult to implement that we’re left with kind of a moving target,” Wendling said.

“The clarity we get is usually after a case is initiated and it leads to a case like this. You get new issues and new situations that no one anticipated occurring.”

Both Donnellon and Wendling said the case won’t stop them from investigating violations of the medical marijuana act. But they also don’t expect those cases to get any easier.

“Michigan has a lot of work to do to decide how we’re going to deal with medical marijuana and marijuana in general,” Wendling said.

“We’re going to continue to enforce the statutes on the books to the best of our ability; they just keep changing the books as we go.”

Komorn said the case is unsettling, “the idea that the government is breaking into people’s homes and taking their property without a conviction.

“I’m reinvigorated by the ruling of the court … but this is not how our system of justice is supposed to be.”

Komorn said he believes the continued scrutiny of medical marijuana cases is due in part to a lack of education about the medical marijuana act.

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen this happen a lot,” Komorn said.

“This is not unique to just St. Clair County. My practice has exposed me to other cases as well.”

Contact Beth LeBlanc at 810-989-6259, eleblanc@gannett.com, or on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc.