Broward, Florida sheriff deputy illegally searched home after minor pot bust, homeowner claims

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Valarie Joaceus looks beat. Inside her tidy living room in North Lauderdale, the blinds drawn tight against the July sun’s bite, she’s slumped on a leather couch, a heavy-set, middle-aged mom overloaded with worry. Joaceus’ two sons — 26-year-old Jonathan and 25-year-old Gregory — have had their trouble with police. The oldest even spent two years in prison on a drug charge. But the latest conflict has crushed Joaceus’ patience. Because this time, she says, it’s a Broward Sheriff Office deputy who broke the law.
“That day was just the icing on the cake,” she says. “What the hell was that man doing in my house?”


Around 12:30 that day, BSO Deputy Brian Dodge had pulled over a green Volkswagen on nearby Southgate Boulevard after watching the car blow through a stop sign. The cabin reeked of weed, Dodge’s arrest report later stated. The driver, Carlos Edouard, and a passenger, Jonathan Joaceus, both appeared to have green, leafy crumbs around their mouths; they eventually both admitted to eating marijuana, and Dodge charged both with tampering/destroying physical evidence. The deputy also found five cocaine rocks in Edouard’s center console.
But the report does not include anything about what the deputy told Joaceus happened next: Jonathan supposedly gave Dodge his house keys, allowing the deputy free reign to drive over and search for drugs inside. The cop admitted he had no warrant, Joaceus says.
Read the entire story over at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

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