Trial begins for WA man who stood his ground against SD trooper

A South Dakota state trooper spent his time systematically profiling cars with license plates from states with legal cannabis until a Washington man stood his ground.

Cannabis is legal in Washington but South Dakota charged Donald Willingham with multiple counts in Pennington County after Trooper Zach Bader illegally profiled the vehicle in which he was riding on Interstate 90.

Willingham’s lead attorney, Dennis Doherty, told jurors during his opening statement to keep an open mind and to wait till they’ve heard all testimonies before forming an opinion on the case. Some serious matters “are in great dispute,” he said, adding that lawyers' assertions are not evidence.

Read the rest here.

Willingham is being held on an outrageous $5 million bail but his associates are out on bond. Jonathan Melendez, Chase Sukert and Desiree Sukert pleaded as part of a deal with prosecutors in which they agreed to testify against Willingham.

22-18-4. Justifiable use of force to protect property--Use of deadly force--Duty to retreat. Any person is justified in the use of force or violence against another person when the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate the other person's trespass on or other criminal interference with real property or personal property lawfully in his or her possession or in the possession of another who is a member of his or her immediate family or household or of a person whose property he or she has a legal right to protect. However, the person is justified in the use of deadly force only as provided in §§ 22-16-34 and 22-16-35. A person does not have a duty to retreat if the person is in a place where he or she has a right to be. Source: SDC 1939, § 13.2402 (3); SL 2005, ch 120, § 8; SL 2006, ch 116, § 2. [South Dakota Codified Law]

A mental health evaluation revealed Willingham is fit to appear for trial.

Recall that in 2012 short guy power hungry Bader accosted a Montana family instead of policing Sturgis Rally traffic. In 2004 Montana voters legalized cannabis for some patients.

Cops' lives suck. Little wonder they abuse their families, alcohol, drugs, food, power, detainees and occasionally murder their wives.

South Dakota voters are expected to overturn some of the state's repressive cannabis laws in 2018.