cannabisnews.com: Judge Rules Couple's Files from Raid Not Protected





Judge Rules Couple's Files from Raid Not Protected
Posted by FoM on October 25, 2001 at 10:09:10 PT
By Wayne Wilson
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel 
Thousands of files seized by federal drug agents from an attorney-physician couple who advocate the medical use of marijuana need not be returned, a judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Gregory G. Hollows rejected the attorney-client privilege asserted by the operators of California Medical Research Center in the El Dorado County town of Cool, but set up rigid rules by which the still-sealed records may be reviewed. 
Neither attorney Dale C. Schafer nor his wife, Dr. Marion "Molly" P. Fry, would discuss Hollows' findings, saying they had not yet seen the 28-page order. Their lawyer, J. David Nick of San Francisco, could not be reached for comment, but after Monday's hearing in U.S. District Court in Sacramento he characterized the government's campaign against the pair as an "unsavory attempt" to instill fear in seriously ill Californians. The offices of Schafer and Fry, along with their nearby Greenwood residence and a storage unit in Cool, were raided Sept. 28-29. A U-Haul truck transported the seized computerized and paper files to Sacramento, where they have been placed in a locked room on the 16th floor of the federal courthouse. Schafer and Fry have yet to be formally charged with a crime, but drug agents alleged in the affidavit for a search warrant that the lawyer and doctor were engaged in a scheme to unlawfully prescribe, cultivate and sell marijuana. The government called it a marijuana prescription "tag team" with the doctor recommending pot therapy and the attorney advising patients how to avoid conviction. At Monday's hearing on the Schafer-Fry motion to return their files, attorney Nick argued that the government is on a "fishing expedition," looking for evidence that would implicate thousands of sick people who use marijuana medicinally. Nick said the Compassionate Use Act, a 1996 state ballot measure, permits Californians to employ pot therapy when it is recommended by a doctor. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Pings said that possession or distribution of marijuana is a federal crime, regardless of one's claimed medical needs. And, she said, the actions of Schafer and Fry went beyond the mere recommendation of marijuana therapy. "Attorney Schafer did more than advise clients about the ins and outs of medical marijuana, including how to avoid prosecution or how to act after an arrest," Hollows noted in his findings. "He coupled that advice with sales of marijuana, distribution of marijuana clones, as well as the organization of a business with his doctor-wife for the mass distribution of marijuana through allegedly unlawful recommendations. "At this point, there is probable cause to believe that attorney Schafer not only advised his customers to possess marijuana in violation of federal law, he took steps to ensure that possession," Hollows declared. Schafer advertised on the Internet and in local papers, offering marijuana recommendations from his business, Hollows stated. But "he affirmatively told his purported clients from the inception of their meeting that he was not their attorney," Hollows said, quoting a question-answer sheet "apparently given to ... Schafer's customers": Q: Is Mr. Schafer my attorney? A: No. Dale C. Schafer (has) provided you with legal consultation to assist you in understanding (the applicable law) and how to keep you out of trouble with law enforcement. With that in mind, Magistrate Hollows reasoned, "Attorney Schafer's clients could not have had a reasonable basis to believe that they were submitting confidential information to their lawyer." Thus, there was no attorney-client privilege, he found. Recognizing the "sensitive" nature of the seized documents, Hollows ruled that the government will be allowed access to some of the files only after they've been reviewed by a "special master" for the purpose of establishing relevance. The medical records themselves will not be opened because, under the government's theory that all marijuana use is unlawful, any reason for such use is not relevant, the magistrate noted. Complete Title: Judge Rules Couple's Files from Raid Not Protected by PrivilegeNewshawk: Dan B.Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)Author: Wayne WilsonPublished: October 23, 2001Copyright: 2001 Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. Contact: letters knews.comWebsite: http://www.knoxnews.com/Related Articles &Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmYes, We're At War ... Against Sick Americans http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11085.shtmlDEA Raids in California http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11079.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by Rainbow on October 25, 2001 at 17:06:55 PT
Patient/Client Confidentiality Belief
yes folks it is a belief. I have been talking with a very knowledgeable attorney about this Client or Patient confidentiality dream.The Federales and state henchmen are allowed to sieze documents and puruse them if they suspect a crime.So watch out what is in your patient records and attorney files. The government can and will go after them, if they have suspicion as in this case and another in California.Expect to see more as the DEA takes over the FBI role in homeland enforcement.Cheers
Rainbow
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on October 25, 2001 at 15:37:46 PT
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The 10th amendment of our Constitution states:  The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.It couldn't have been made more clear.
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Comment #3 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on October 25, 2001 at 14:37:27 PT
And F*ck the MEDIA too
The media is really the centerpiece in the whole debacle of cannabis prohibition.It is the media who don't report the grotesque anti-american activities carried out methodically by Federal and state employees - their own tax-paid servants.The media FAILS to report on anything to do with cannabis. They FAILED Tom Crosslin. They are FAILING DR. Fry. They are FAILING America. American MEdia is so totally complicit with the government its basically safe to say they are owned by the government.Thats nbot exactly true: the media is owned by a very few people, all of whom are essentially represented by the most conservative of forces. FOX NEWS, for example, has an outrageous right-wing spin to anything it reports. I thought CNN was bad after the TIME-AOL takeover. There are NO "liberal" TV outlets -other than PERHAPS PBS. But PBS really wont tell the whole truth about Cannabis PRohibition: the Conservative ability to suppress and black out the GLOBAL CANNABIS issue is a measure of how "trained" the media is to do what they are told.Thus the DEA and whichever other Federal agencies NOT involved in the protection of Americans can drag people OUT of their homes and treat them like Public Enemies for mere associtaion with a plant.China doesn't talk about Tienamen Square, either......FREEDOM ENDURES
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Comment #2 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on October 25, 2001 at 14:23:33 PT
FASCISTS IN AMERICA
I agree, Greenfox..F**KING BASTRADS. Its clear the DEA is is completely anti-democratic Terrorist cell functioning openly in the USa with Congressional, Senataorial, and Presidential blessings.Since the Talibush siezed power America has been on a down-0hill plumment, punctuated only by the September 11th attacks. These attacks have aided and abetted Team Talibush in the pursuit of the very things REPUBLICANS have wanted since Reagen was our puppet figurehead. They hate the little guy. They hate sick people. They hate democracy. They hate America. They hate the Bill of Rights. They hate white people who recognize that white people AIN"T the center of God's Creation. They hate minorities. They hate the Civil Rights Movement.They want this country to turn into a high-grade, for-profit version of NAZI Germany. This is why we have Storm Troopers who raid peaceful LAW-ABIDING professional in military style with machine guns and stun grenades. The Month of October for the Cannabis movement has been very similar to "Krystalnacht" - a night early in the NAZI rise to power where the homes and businesses of the Jews were looted and destroyed.JEWS for NAZIS, Falun Gong for China, Pot Smokers for america. All 3 of those groups are treated in exactly the same way. Falun Gong members are tortured and killed, then reported to have committed suicide. The People of Cannabis Culture are harrassed, driven from gainful employment, placed under surveilence, illegally arrested and detained, illegally jaied, railroaded in courts by Fascist and hateful prosecutors who see potheads as easy stepping stones to some smooth life as a judge. And if the pothead is educated, a professional or a landowner, then their days as free, living and breathing human beings are often numbered. ESPECIALLY if you own any land. They will kill you for it. DEA is a DEATH SQUAD.FREEDOM ENDURES
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Comment #1 posted by greenfox on October 25, 2001 at 12:26:24 PT
f*cking bastards...
I am sick
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