Attorney says deputies targeted him in raid on his house
An attorney whose house was raided by Orange County sheriff’s deputies this week accused the agency of retaliating against him for repeatedly suing the county and advocating for marijuana legalization.
Matthew Pappas, whose clients include marijuana dispensaries in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, said deputies removed confidential papers and digital video recorders from his home office in Mission Viejo.
Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Mark Stichter said the Tuesday evening search was related to a narcotics investigation regarding Pappas’s adult daughter — not her father’s law practice.
Stichter said deputies found an unspecified amount of methamphetamine, heroin, a syringe and a digital scale in the home.
Stichter said no arrests were made, but the sheriff’s department was compiling evidence tor turn over to the district attorney’s office.
Pappas has represented marijuana dispensaries in lawsuits against the county since 2010. One of his clients is Costa Mesa Collective, a marijuana store that operated in the 2000 block of Harbor Boulevard. A lawsuit alleges Costa Mesa police did not have a proper search warrant in January when several employees were arrested there.
A video was released on the Internet in January showing the raid on the marijuana store, where Pappas claims police disabled security cameras but missed a hidden recording system.
Pappas said authorities raided his home because of his contentious history with the county, not because they believe his adult daughter is a drug dealer.
“They know she’s not some drug kingpin,” he said, adding that she developed a drug problem after doctors prescribed her opiods for a 2011 head injury.
“My daughter has an addiction issue, but she is not a drug dealer, and they know it,” Pappas said. “She can barely walk.”
Pappas asserted that deputies searched his home in retaliation for his legal practice. He said one of the deputies mentioned his past cases against the county.
“They were in my room for almost the entire time, despite being there for [my daughter],” Pappas said. “They were going through my office, and they ordered me to open my safe with confidential papers. Why would they do that, if they were there for [her]?”
Stichter said deputies followed protocol during the search.
“It was a search warrant, so whenever we are serving that warrant, we don’t know the dangers that will be in that house,” Stichter said. “We do the same things every time we serve a warrant to protect our officers.”
Pappas also said authorities mistreated another one of his children, a minor who was studying with a friendat the time of the search.
Pappas said that child, a teenager, suffered an injury to her back after being thrown against a wall and that a deputy’s handcuffs cut one of her wrists.
“The guys that came in had guns pointed ... “ Pappas said.
Stichter said he was not aware of the teen’s alleged injuries, adding that handcuffs were used because the child was “uncooperative.”
Following Tuesday night’s events, Pappas checked into a hotel with all of his confidential papers and computers because he said he needed to protect client information.
“My house is in shambles,” Pappas said. “I have a duty to keep these things confidential.”
Deputies did not remove any papers or digital devices from the home, Stichter said.
Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
