$1.3M Settlement Reached for Business Owners Falsely Arrested in ‘Operation Candy Crush’ Sting

From the Tennessee Bar Association:

Store owners who were falsely arrested during “Operation Candy Crush” in Rutherford County have reached a $1.3 million settlement with local officials, the Daily News Journal reports. A class-action lawsuit against Rutherford County Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh, Smyrna Police Chief Kevin Arnold, District Attorney General Jennings Jones and Assistant District Attorney John Zimmerman was brought after plaintiffs were arrested in 2018 on charges of selling candy made with CBD, a product not proven to be an illegal derivative of marijuana. All charges were later dropped. The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office provided staff legal counsel for Jones and hired Nashville law firm Neal & Harwell to represent Zimmerman. Plaintiffs were represented by attorney Chris Smith of Nashville civil rights firm David Randolph Smith & Associates [DRS Law], which also recently settled a police misconduct lawsuit against the City of Chattanooga.

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