Man Left Sitting in Prison for Months for "Possession" of Vitamins

Amanda Warren
Activist Post

Unfortunately, the police state has reached the point of consummation. While a person should be able to go out unmolested and carry vitamins, supplements, food, protein drinks to go or even ride in a car with a dirty spoon on the floor – each individual runs the risk of the dreaded “drug-dealer” accusation. That accusation is only the beginning of a cascading nightmare.

While it should be a no-brainer and an easy situation to clear up, it simply isn’t with such a mucked up system that treats citizens like heinous murderers.

This was the case for 31-year-old Joseph Burrell of Mankato, Minnesota. Last November, Burrell was jailed in a parking lot for possessing a “white powder” after police stopped him for driving without lights. Some kind of field drug test falsely identified it as amphetamine drugs, writes John Vibes.

He was eventually charged with two-to-four counts of drug possession felonies and held in a county jail for three months with a $250,000 bail. Not once did anyone investigate his repeated claims that it was simply vitamins.

Burrell only had his charges dropped, just as he was about to go to trial in two days – thanks to an official lab test finally conducted.

He said:

I was furious, I was hot, I was pissed off. At the same time, it was like, unbelievable. I believe the prosecutor in Blue Earth County was dragging their feet. I got arrested November 14, 38 days later, he finally sends the alleged amphetamines for the BCA lab to get final test results.

What is particularly tragic about his situation – and all too common – is the complete lack of due process – and lack of evidence. How long does it take to submit a substance to a lab for a valid test? Answer: hours at a local lab, if a moron can’t figure out the substance. Why is it that the officer isn’t questioned about his on-the-field-test which led to slamming an innocent man behind bars? Answer: he’s doing his job and is going to get a promotion at the victim’s expense. Where is the speedy trial? Answer: see next paragraph.

The reason they wait for so long for the test/trial is because they hope for a plea bargain which can actually catapult the victim straight into prison with a record – at the very least stick the person with large fines for his “guilt.” Burrell waited them out, resting firmly on his innocence. The prosecutor’s allegedly refused to believe this and purposely waited, but think about it, they knew. How many of those caught with actual illicit materials would confidently say – “Go ahead, test it!”

If you watch the news video, you will see the anchors make great emphasis that Burrell has quite the record. One wonders if he was trying to improve his life with vitamins. This revelation would make a lot of people say, “Can you really blame the police then?” Yes! This is all the more reason to be concerned. They were so confident in seeing his record, that the substance was misidentified and he was left to sit in jail on the hopes of padding a prison cell. It’s true, his past record is murky, but he was almost sent to prison for vitamins. Being a patron of the system, he knew to wait it out, whereas many “first-timers” are frightened into taking the “bargain.”

Sadly, three months is a significant amount of time to be locked up, denied medical treatment, fed garbage and having to use the bathroom in front of others. It’s enough time to lose jobs, strain relationships and drain bank accounts. Not exactly the best way to “rehabilitate” a recovering drug-user, if that were in fact, the actual goal.

Burrell is planning to file a civil lawsuit against the police department in the near future.

At this point, can the “War on Drugs” even be considered a cause for this blatant human rights violation? This is a war on you. If not supplements, cough medicine or Spaghetti-O spoons, it would be something else…a false “hit” on a vehicle by a unit dog that gets a treat for it.

See the video at John Vibe’s report – mind-numbing madness.

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