In December, 2015, U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrum threw out the family's case citing qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that shields officers from liability for otherwise lawful acts in the course of their duty. The Hartes appealed.
This week, the three judge panel — Carlos Lucero, Gregory Phillips and Nancy Moritz — ruled against the state, sending the case back to district court. The 100-page decision pushed back hard against the claim that police officers are immune from legal responsibility if they are just doing their jobs.
"The defendants in this case caused an unjustified governmental intrusion into the Hartes' home based on nothing more than junk science, an incompetent investigation, and a publicity stunt," Lucero wrote in his opinion. "The Fourth Amendment does not condone this conduct, and neither can I."
Link to the entire story of Kansas cops raiding a home because tea leaves in the trash somehow tested positive for Cannabis. Sounds like the cops made up the evidence (and the law) as they went along;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/28/well-never-be-the-same-how-a-familys-hydroponic-tomato-garden-led-cops-to-raid-their-home/?utm_term=.c615e1bccbba