A Colorado judge ruled last year that police illegally seized 39 medical-marijuana plants from a Fort Collins couple, who are now in court seeking reimbursement for the value of the plants.

The Denver Channel reported Jan. 17 that James and Lisa Masters said that after a county judge dismissed all criminal charges against them and ordered the police to return the plants, they received the crop back dry, brittle and moldy. The Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that each plant was worth roughly $1,000.

"Colorado law states that plants seized in connection with the claimed use of medical marijuana shall not be destroyed while in the possession of state or local law enforcement," said plaintiff's attorney Brian Vicente. "The police were aware that these plants were for medical use -- and they destroyed them anyway."