“It looked like Molly.” were the words of the officer on the scene of the arrest. The supposed drug turned out to be the ashes of Dartavius Barnes’ deceased daughter. You cannot make this up. Barnes, from Illinois, is suing the city of Springfield because the police took his daughter’s ashes, claiming it tested positive for meth. Watch the video below!
Dartavius Barnes appears to be emotionally distraught and handcuffed in body camera footage filmed during his auto stop on April 6, 2020. In his lawsuit, Mr Barnes says that the police “desecrated” the ashes of his daughter. Local media has obtained footage of the incident. Police have not admitted wrongdoing.
Mr Barnes filed a lawsuit against the city and those involved in October. He alleges that the officers acted illegally and spilled some of his daughter’s ashes while testing for drugs.
Ta’Naja, a 3-year-old girl died of neglect and starvation in February 2019. Her mother, Twanka, pleaded guilty to the crime. Twanka was sentenced to 20 year in prison. In a court filing, lawyers for the officers said that the police “were acting within the scope of their employment and under colour of law”.
“Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity as their conduct was justified by an objectively reasonable belief that it was lawful,” the documents said. Qualified immunity is a legal defense that allows government employees to perform their job without fear of being sued.
Mr. Barnes was pulled over last year for allegedly speeding and disobeying traffic signs. In the body camera footage, Mr. Barnes was co-operating with police as he is placed in handcuffs, sitting and waiting in the back of the squad car while officers inspect his car.
Asked by officers if he has anything in his car before they search, he says they have some weed. Mr. Barnes had nearly 80 grams of marijuana in his car – three times the legal possession limit in Illinois.
The officers then show Mr. Barnes the urn – a metallic object about the size of a finger – and say it has tested positive for meth or ecstasy.
“No, no, no, bro that’s my daughter,” an agitated Mr Barnes says. “Give me that, bro. That’s my daughter. Please give me my daughter, bro. Put her in my hand, bro. Y’all are disrespectful, bro.”
An officer then shuts the car door to confer with the other officers.
“Apparently this is his daughter’s ashes,” one of the officers says, adding that the substance inside had tested positive for meth.
The officer later decides not to retest the contents of the urn because he doesn’t want to upset Mr. Barnes’s father, who was also at the scene.
“The test, it field tested for meth,” the officer says to Mr Barnes.
“I knew that was impossible… that’s my daughter,” Mr Barnes replies, and thanks the officer for returning the urn.
Mr. Barnes was set free and given a trespass notice for holding cannabis.
He is seeking damages as he opts for trial by juries, which have been set for August 2022.
Field drug tests are not always reliable.
According to a list compiled by the Washington Post, these kits have mistakenly detected illegal substances in chocolate chip cookies, deodorant, billiards chalk, flour and motor oil.
