Peace Of Mind Preliminary Trial Finds Prosecutor Had No Evidence

A preliminary hearing in Franklin County Court before Judge Stanley Williams on Tuesday, July 9, led to the judge finding no evidence that a crime was committed and charges against Peace of Mind, 104 West Main Street, and owner Scott Arnold-Micke, dismissed.

The case had grabbed local headlines in July 2018 when three stores, owned by Micke, had been served with search warrants that included locations in Sullivan, Park Hills and Festus, for products containing THC, in the CBD oil being sold by the business.

Originally, charges in the Franklin County investigation alleged that Peace of Mind had distributed a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a park and 2,000 feet of a school.

The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office changed the charges to a Class A felony of felony delivery of a controlled substance.

At the center of the controversy was the sale of CBD oil, now observed in almost every convenience store and shopping center. Authorities in July 2018 felt that the sale of CBD oil, a Schedule I controlled substance; pipes commonly used to smoke methamphetamine and marijuana; items to extract THC from marijuana plants and items to smoke THC wax and with containers to hide it were all part of the original probable cause statement presented in the case.

Lab materials were sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab for testing, but according to sources these items may or may not have been presented during the July 9 preliminary hearing.

With the hearing being held and no probable cause being presented by Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Becker, Judge Williams found no evidence that a crime was committed and the case against Micke was dropped.

Micke contacted the Sullivan Independent News that day following the hearing.

“The judge told the prosecutor that he didn’t have evidence that a crime had been committed and dismissed the case,” said Micke. “The sad part is that this came at a huge cost to me. A year of my life being dragged through the gutter.”

Micke had always contested that the products being sold in his stores were legal and that the items were being purchased in Missouri from a Missouri supplier who also provided products across the state of Missouri.

A case against Micke in St. Francois County before Judge Joe Goff Jr., also saw charges dismissed as this judge felt that search warrant that had been obtained sites controlled substances in the stores however there was no controlled substances found.

It is unclear whether  Becker will attempt to re-file charges in this case, but for Micke it is a return to business in which what he feels are legal CBD oil products will be returning to store shelves.