cannabisnews.com: Chico Man To Be Released In Medical Pot Case





Chico Man To Be Released In Medical Pot Case
Posted by CN Staff on August 08, 2004 at 11:49:19 PT
Breaking News
Source: Bay City News 
San Francisco -- A Chico man who claims the marijuana he grew was for medical purposes is hoping to be released from prison on bail this week following the order of a federal appeals court in San Francisco.Bryan Epis, 37, is appealing his conviction and 10-year sentence for conspiring to grow more than 1,000 marijuana plants near a school. He has been in prison since being convicted in federal court in Sacramento in 2002.
On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered Epis released on bail until his appeal is decided. Epis' lawyer, Brenda Grantland of Mill Valley, said on Friday her client is "ecstatic" that he will be released. She said that because the appeals court ordered an expedited bail hearing, she expects a hearing before U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell in Sacramento this week on the amount of Epis' bail.Epis, a co-founder of Chico Medical Marijuana Caregivers, contends that he and four other patients were growing the plants in his basement because they need marijuana to alleviate pain and other medical problems.He argues that his actions were legal under California's 1996 medical marijuana law and should be exempt from federal drug laws because no interstate commerce was involved.A 9th Circuit panel heard arguments on his appeal in San Francisco in June, but last month put the appeal on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides a similar issue in the case of Oakland medical marijuana patient Angel Raich.Raich and co-plaintiff Diane Monson of Chico are seeking court protection from federal prosecution for their medical marijuana. They say their local, non-commercial marijuana growing is not covered by federal drug laws, which are based on Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce. A panel of the 9th Circuit ruled in Raich's favor, but in late June, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will review that decision. On July 12, the 9th Circuit put Epis' case on hold until the high court issues its ruling in the Raich case.Grantland said that waiting for the high court decision will mean a delay of up to a year in resolving Epis' appeal. In a brief request for bail, she argued to the appeals court that Epis' case "will now sit in limbo" and that he should be granted bail because of "unjust delay."The appeals court granted the request for bail in a brief order issued on Friday.Grantland said the amount of Epis' bail before trial was $500,000 and said the amount of the new bail may be similar. Epis has been held in a federal prison on Terminal Island near Los Angeles, she said.Note: Actions Were Legal Under Medical Marijuana Law, Man Says.Source: Bay City News (CA)Published: August 8, 2004Copyright: 2004 Bay City News Contact: bcn pacbell.net Website: http://www.baycitynews.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Bryan Epis Protest Pictureshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/protestpics.htmFederal Court Orders Bail for Chico Man http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19305.shtmlChico Man's Pot Case On Hold http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19176.shtmlFirst Federal Medical Marijuana Conviction http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13398.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 20:53:48 PT
More News from ASA
NEWS ADVISORY from AMERICANS FOR SAFE ACCESS -- Media Contact: William Dolphin 510-919-1498Chico Medical Marijuana Grower Bryan Epis Freed by Appeals CourtFederal Panel Amends Last Week’s Order to Grant Bail Pending Appeal Press Conference Tomorrow at 10:00am at Federal Building in SacramentoSAN FRANCISCO – Bryan James Epis, 37, the first medical marijuana patient convicted in federal court after the passage of California’s Proposition 215, should walk out of federal prison in Long Beach today, thanks to an order this morning by an appeals court in San Francisco. He will be re-united with his 11-year-old daughter, Ashley, tomorrow morning at 10:00am on the steps of the federal courthouse in Sacramento where he was convicted. A press conference will follow.Last Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered the district court in Sacramento, where he was convicted, to expedite his release on bail. But today the panel amended that order to grant his release directly, setting in motion his immediate release from the medium security correctional facility at Terminal Island. Mr. Epis has served more than two years of a ten-year sentence for growing medical marijuana for himself and other patients. Last month the same panel heard the appeal of his conviction and decided that Mr. Epis’s case should be reconsidered by the District Court, once the U.S. Supreme Court has acted to either uphold or overturn the decision in Raich v. Ashcroft, which established that medical marijuana patients and their caregivers are exempt from the federal prohibition. His attorney had argued that his 2002 conviction was not only unconstitutional under that decision, but based on misconduct by federal prosecutors. The appeals court also said that if any portion of his conviction remained in effect, that he must be resentenced under new standards set by the Supreme Court decision in Blakely v. Washington, which found that juries, not judges, should determine sentencing. His attorney asked the appeals court to grant Mr. Epis his freedom pending the outcome of the Supreme Court’s action on Raich, and subsequent proceedings before the District Court in Sacramento.Mr. Epis was arrested June 25, 1997, after Butte County sheriff's officers discovered marijuana plants growing in the basement of his home in Chico. Since his conviction, his case has been cited nationwide in news articles, columns and editorials as a prime example of the injustice of trying patients under a federal drug-trafficking law. During the high-profile medical marijuana trial of Ed Rosenthal in 2003, advocacy groups put up billboards in the San Francisco Bay Area urging “compassion not federal prison” with an image of Mr. Epis’s daughter, Ashley, holding a sign saying, “My dad is not a criminal.” WHAT: Press conference and rally with just-released medical marijuana prisoner Bryan Epis.WHO: Bryan James Epis, 37; his daughter, Ashley Epis, 11; attorney Brenda Grantland.WHEN: Tuesday, August 10, 2004. 10:00am.WHERE: Steps of the Federal building, corner of 5th and I streets, Sacramento, California. 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 20:38:10 PT
ASA: Bryan Epis is FREE! 
The man whose case has been the prime example of how wrong the federal government's war on medical marijuana can go, walked out of federal prison in Long Beach at approximately 4:30pm today, thanks to an order this morning by an appeals court in San Francisco. After being greeted at the prison gates by supporters from Americans for Safe Access, Mr. Epis was driven to the Burbank airport for a flight to San Jose, where he will be met be family members and spend the night with his mother.He will be re-united with his 11-year-old daughter, Ashley, tomorrow morning at 10:00am on the steps of the federal courthouse in Sacramento where he was convicted. A rally and press conference will follow."Bryan's freedom is proof that we are winning," said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of ASA. "No medical marijuana patient should be in prison for using the medicine their doctor recommends. Soon, none will be."Your ongoing support of Americans for Safe Access has helped make this possible. If you are not already an ASA member, please join today. Help make sure that Bryan and other patients remain free!-Wm._____________________William DolphinCommunications DirectorAmericans for Safe Access http://SafeAccessNow.org 
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on August 09, 2004 at 09:59:40 PT
Great news! 
Congratulations Brian. 2 years in prison for the medical MJ cause, you're a hero for all of us to look up to.When Ashcroft is in prison, our job will be complete
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Comment #2 posted by CorvallisEric on August 08, 2004 at 22:47:36 PT
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (comment 1)
is connected with the Church of Scientology. I don't have time to chase this one, but I suspect that much in the article is bogus. After they rid the world of Prozac, Cannabis will be next.
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Comment #1 posted by global_warming on August 08, 2004 at 14:18:52 PT
The plot thickens..
BIG BROTHER WATCH:
ILLINOIS launches compulsory mental health screening
for children and pregnant women
 
The Leader-Chicago Bureau
HICAGO -- Monday, July 19, 2004 This week, a series of public forums on a program requiring all pregnant women and children through age 18 years to be tested for mental health needs is being held this week in five different locations statewide.
 
Orwellian program in Illinois seeks to place all pregnant women and children through compulsory screening for "mental defectives."-One group of parents learned about the state's plans to proceed with this program and on Monday issued an alarm asking for parents and citizens concerned about the new program to voice their opinions at the forums."We're moving toward social training over academic training with this program," Larry Trainor, a Mt. Prospect parent of four children and a contact for Citizens Commission on Human Rights, based in Los Angeles, said today. TOP"Since psychiatric involvement in education, SAT scores have gone down for the past few decades. Evaluating mental conditions is not based on scientific evidence, it's subjective," he said.The $10 million plan for the setup of the Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 is being considered at this week's public forums starting Monday, July 18 in Champaign.Signed into law, the bill passed the Illinois General Assembly last spring, sponsored in the House by State Representatives Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) and Patricia Bellock (R-Westmont). State Senator Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest) and Susan Garrett (D-Highwood) shepherded the legislation through the Senate.The legislation passed the House with a 107 to 5 vote, and the Senate unanimously."What if they find a student has a math disorder, a reading disorder. Would that be a mental health disorder, one that would cause the parents to put their children with a drug for a condition they may or may not have?" Trainor asked.The mental health program will develop a mental health system for "all children ages 0-18 years," provide for screening to "ensure appropriate and culturally relevant assessment of young children's social and emotional development with the use of standardized tools."Also, all pregnant women will be screened for depression and thereafter following her baby's birth, up to one year. Follow-up treatment services will also be provided.Trainor said that he is trying to get parents and citizens out to voice their opinion about the new program.Apparently, children's mental health will be assessed along with their academic standards in the new proposed testing. The Illinois State Board of Education has been given the responsibility to develop the appropriate tests, according to last year's legislation.The Task Force hosting the public forums this week are to send a recommendation to Governor Blagojevich by the end of the summer, according to the Act (HB 2900).
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