cannabisnews.com: Chico Man's Pot Case On Hold Chico Man's Pot Case On Hold Posted by CN Staff on July 13, 2004 at 11:26:32 PT By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle The case of a Butte County man sentenced to 10 years in prison for growing marijuana that he said was for himself and other patients was put on hold by an appeals court Monday to await the U.S. Supreme Court's verdict on federal authority over locally grown medical marijuana. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered a federal judge in Sacramento to reconsider Bryan Epis' case after the Supreme Court decides whether the federal ban on marijuana applies to pot that is grown in the state and supplied without charge to patients under California law. The Supreme Court ruling, which involves two other patients from Northern California, is due by June. Epis, 37, could get a new trial if the high court decides that Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce does not apply to drugs grown and distributed noncommercially within a state in compliance with state law. Snipped: Complete Article: http://freedomtoexhale.com/chico.htm Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - Page B - 3Copyright: 2004 San Francisco Chronicle Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Site:Bryan Epis Protest Pictureshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/protestpics.htmFirst Federal Medical Marijuana Conviction http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13398.shtml Conviction in Federal Pot Trialhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13389.shtmlMarijuana Grower Convicted in Jury Verdicthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13383.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 06, 2004 at 22:37:21 PT DPFCA: For Immediate Release - Bryan Epis DPFCA: For Immediate Release: 9th Circuit Orders District Court to Release Bryan Epis on Bail PLEASE CROSS-POST TO DRUG POLICY LISTSAugust 6, 2004Today the Ninth Circuit issued its third order this month in Bryan Epis' case, this time ordering the district court to release Bryan on bail pending appeal!Epis was convicted of conspiracy to grow 1,000 marijuana plants, in a federal trial in which the jury was repeatedly instructed that medical marijuana was not a defense to a federal criminal charge. Despite the instructions, a lot of medical evidence came in at trial -- mostly through the cross-examination of defense witnesses by prosecutor Samuel Wong -- including testimony about the five patients that were growing together in Epis' basement and sharing the work and harvest. All of them had doctors' recommendations -- so under the Ninth Circuit's decision in Raich v. Ashcroft, all of the plants shared between the five patients would be exempt from federal control, since their activities were legal under state law.What was left over from their harvests -- 6% of the marijuana grown by the group over the few months they were in operation -- was shared with the Chico Medical Cannabis Caregivers, which provided medical marijuana to patients with doctors' recommendations. Although the CMCC received reimbursement from patients, the payments were voluntary, and indigent patients were provided medical cannabis without charge. Although it was originally agreed that CMCC would reimburse Epis and the others for the amount they contributed to the club, the evidence showed that they were never actually paid. Issues regarding reimbursement and medical cannabis dispensaries like CMCC were not covered in the Raich decision, and still have not been decided by the Ninth Circuit.Bryan Epis' oral argument in the Ninth Circuit was held on June 18, 2004. (You can listen to it on the 9th Circuit website, in the audio recordings section. Look for case number 02-10523.) On July 12, the Ninth Circuit issued an order remanding the case back to the trial court for further proceedings in light of Raich v. Ashcroft, but told them to wait until the Supreme Court decided the Raich case to make these findings.On July 26, I filed Bryan's fourth motion for bail pending appeal, this time arguing in the alternative that they should reconsider their order remanding the case and putting it on hold pending the Supreme Court's decision in Raich, because Bryan was incarcerated. I showed in the motion that Bryan had already served more time pending appeal than the federal sentencing guidelines would permit for the 32 to 52 plants they distributed through the Chico dispensary - if those were found to be illegal at all! The government's opposition was due yesterday, and so far I haven't received it. Maybe they didn't file anything.Today, the Ninth Circuit ordered Bryan's release, leaving the conditions of bail pending appeal up to the trial judge -- Judge Damrell in Sacramento. I have been in contact with the courtroom deputy about scheduling a hearing sometime next week. I did not hear back from her by the close of business today, so there won't be any word on when the hearing will be until Monday at the earliest. In the meantime, I contacted the federal prison and had the Ninth Circuit fax the order to them. It is conceivable that the prison will let Bryan out before Judge Damrell takes any further action, since the Ninth Circuit ordered him to release Bryan.Bryan commented today, in a phone call from Terminal Island:"I feel ecstatic that I'm being released pending the Supreme Court's future affirmation of Raich v. Ashcroft, which at a minimum will allow a new jury to hear the truth about my medical marijuana defense. I'd like to thank the literally thousands of people who supported me during my incarceration, especially my daughter, my mom, Cheryl, and the rest of my family, Steph Sherer, Hilary McQuie and everyone else at Americans for Safe Access, Angel and Robert Raich, and Dale Gieringer at California NORML. They gave me the strength I needed while being incarcerated for the crime of implementing California law."Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml igc.org 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114 [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 06, 2004 at 14:05:31 PT Bryan Epis I just read that Bryan Epis will be getting out of prison soon. I'll look for an article too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by ElPatricio on July 13, 2004 at 22:58:51 PT: Statewide Law Dissed By Feds And Yokels Bryan Epis was railroaded by federal prosecutors in Sacramento, where state and federal law enforcement secretly conferred following the passage of 215. Epis is a medical user whose acts of generosity were punished by police and prosecutors who still believe that medical mj is a hoax. Check out the CNOA's "position paper" on medical cannabis. They -still- teach narcotics officers their delusional dogma.Bryan had the misfortune of being prosecuted in California's least friendly federal district. I did an analysis of the voting pattern for Proposition 215, and noticed how police and prosecutors apparently felt empowered in counties where voters opposed the medical-cannabis initiative.Here's a quick summary:1) Northern District -- Bay Area and North Coast 14 of 15 counties supported; 67.7% voters backed2) Central District -- L.A., Orange, Inland Empire, Ventura, San Luis Obispo 4 of 7 counties supported; 53.2% backed2a) Central, West-South Divisions 4 of 5 counties supported; 54.2% backed2b) Central, Eastern Division -- Riverside, San Berdoo 0 of 2 counties supported; 48.5% backed3) Southern District -- San Diego and Imperial 1 of 2 counties supported; 51.8% backed3a) Southern, San Diego Division 1 of 1 counties supported; 52.1% backed3b) Southern, Imperial Division 0 of 1 counties supported; 39.2% backed4) Eastern District -- San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys 8 of 34 counties supported; 47.2% backed4a) Northern Division -- Sac Valley, northern Sierra 8 of 23 counties supported; 50.1% backed 4b) Southern Division -- San Joaquin Valley, south Sierra 0 of 11 counties supported; 42.2% backedIt doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why medical users in the Central Valley, foothill and Sierra counties, and the Inland Empire have faced continuing law-enforcement hostility. Police and prosecutors believe that juries will convict cases that would be laughed out of court in more supportive jurisdictions.At the refugee hearing of Steve and Michele Kubby in Canada, a representative of the board asked this question: "Don't you think that when 31 counties [out of 58]opposed Proposition 215, and that 44 percent of the voters opposed the initiative, that law enforcement had a right to go slow?"My response, after the fact was, well I don't know about Canada, but in the States, 50 percent plus one is supposed to be a victory.Where's Bill Lockyer and why hasn't he reined in the local yokels? I know. It's a rhetorical question. California Narcotics Officers Association [ Post Comment ] Post Comment