Reply #165: Yes, back in 1973...

[GReedDiamond]

...I was pistol whipped, had my head bashed against a cement curb, etc.

My crime: possession of a one ounce bag of marijuana. I refused to hand it over, so the cop assaulted me.

After my trip to the hospital, where my head wounds were treated by a doctor who spoke with a German accent, I was put in a jail cell overnight.

I was bailed out the next day, after being charged with felony possession, and felony assault-type charges (for beating the cop, which I did not do), resisting arrest, fleeing an officer, etc. There were, IIRC, six felonies lodged against me, and a misdemeanor or two.

My attorney was obtained by my aunt, who was the personal secretary to the Chairman of the Board of a very famous national retail outlet. This attorney was one of the attorneys for this retail outlet.

The attorney, a friend of the judge hearing the case, met the judge on a golf course. During a round of golf, the attorney convinced the judge that I was a "good kid" (I was 18 at the time), and the judge, without ever hearing any "evidence" from the prosecution, summarily dismissed all charges, with the exception of a reduced (from felony, to misdemeanor), charge of possession, to which I agreed to plead guilty.

My sentence: no jail time, no probation, a $500.00 fine. The cop who beat me was flabbergasted, to say the least. We paid the attorney $1000.00 for his "legal expertise" in springing me. I had otherwise faced years in the slammer.

BTW, I always thought this Country would have evolved enough by this time to have lifted the ridiculous prohibition on pot, but, no such luck...