[resipsa]

Bryn and Paul have both had their requests for bail denied.

On 7/23, the probation department will make their report to the court and present their recommendation as to punishment. Allison will be there to represent Bryn and Paul.

The good news is that Bryn's probation officer is a very reasonable man, and Bryn has been in no previous trouble. We are hoping to present the probation officer with letters from the community recommending leniency for both Bryn and Paul. If you would be interested in writing such a letter, please pm me.

Any messages of support or encouragement you post here will be printed out and sent to Paul and Bryn.

If you would like to be on the email list for updates pm me.

Below is the information on this very important hearing:

When: Thursday July 23, 2009
Time: 8:30 AM
Place: Pomona Courthouse South
Department F 3rd Floor
400 Civic Center Plaza
Pomona, CA 91766

[Medpatient]

Hi Resipa, I am not to familiar with their case, can you shed some light for me please.

[resipsa]

They were growing together and are appealing the case arising out of this at this time, because they weren't allowed to present evidence about their medical marijuana status and the fact the grow was also going to medical cannabis dispensaries.

They have just finished in the appellate courts and are preparing to appeal to the California Supreme Court.

One of the conditions of being on probation is that you not associate. This dawn raid on the apartment house that resulted in the probation violation charge, was actually a sweep done by the LAPD and probation. They were doing surprise home inspections and picking up people with warrants. They pick a certain area and just roar through.

The way they do it is really scary. There were ten LAPD in full regalia, plus the probation people. The group starts out by banging on the windows and front door, the people inside are woken from a sound sleep to this thunderous noise with the police bellowing at them so loudly it's hard to tell what they're saying.

When Bryn's dogs became alarmed and started barking, one officer threatened to shoot the dogs.

Needless to say, since it's Bryn and Paulie are non-violent, retiring types, none of this was necessary.

[DreamSmoker]

Pot farmers' case may help clarify laws
10-27-07|SGVTribune.com|By Dan Abendschein

The case of three convicted Azusa pot farmers may help clarify laws on how to legally grow medical marijuana, advocates said.

Bryn Anderson, 38, of Los Angeles; Paul Shaw, 35, of Azusa; and Charles Newcomb, 47, of Azusa were convicted last week of cultivation stemming from the seizure of 700 plants from an Azusa pot factory in May.

"The laws on growing medical marijuana are very broad, and a case like this could be very important in setting a precedent for judges," said Bruce Margolin, a Los Angeles-based medical marijuana advocate and lawyer who represented Newcomb in the early stages of the case.

The appeal in the case would be based on the refusal of Superior Court Judge Charles Horan to allow evidence and witnesses that would allegedly establish the men were growing medical marijuana, according to Antonio Bestard, Newcomb's attorney.

The witnesses included the owner of a West Hollywood dispensary who was prepared to testify that the group was growing marijuana for his patients, according to court documents.

In addition to the grow house at 844 N. Vernon Ave., Newcomb was also convicted of marijuana cultivation at his own home in Azusa, where he had 14 marijuana plants growing in his backyard.

The court did not permit testimony of a medical marijuana prescription holder who lawyers said would testify that Newcomb was his caregiver, records show.

Horan found the defendants guilty and sentenced Anderson and Shaw to 120 days of county jail and three years of felony probation. He sentenced Newcomb to 120 days in the county jail and three years and eight months of felony probation.

Both Anderson and Newcomb said they were unhappy with their sentences and wanted to make an appeal on principle.

"The judge gave us two choices, and neither one was any good," said Anderson. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Anderson, who has a medical marijuana prescription, would be subject to drug screening while on probation and would not be able to use marijuana during that time.

"I am going to have to go back to Vicodin, and that just messes me up," said Anderson, who says he uses medical marijuana for an old stabbing injury to his hand suffered when he was working as a bouncer at a club.

According to state law, a person on felony probation would have to appeal to a judge to be allowed medical marijuana during their probation.

According to Margolin, the case would be the first court appeal in large-scale growing operation case since the passage of SB420, a law meant to clarify how medical marijuana prescription holders can legally grow pot.

The law allows for a prescription holder or "primary caregiver" to possess up to "six mature plants or 12 immature plants for each qualified patient."

Margolin argues that the Anderson, Newcomb and Shaw can show they were growing the marijuana for medical purposes if they were allowed to present evidence linking them to patients at the West Hollywood dispensary. He added Newcomb would be able to use the law to argue that the crops at his house were a legal amount for him and the other prescription holder.

But Horan said during a preliminary hearing in the case that the men did not qualify as caregivers under the law.

"A caregiver would be someone with a good portion of their life spent with a patient, like his mother," said Horan. "That's what caregiver means, not somebody who decided to grow marijuana and sell it."

Horan also said during the hearing that there was evidence in the case that suggested the defendants had profited from selling the pot. He said the law states that it does not authorize "cultivating or distributing marijuana for profit."

The same law allows for a patient or caregiver a "reasonable compensation" for growing someone else's marijuana, leaving it unclear whether a person can support themselves by growing medical marijuana, or just cover their expenses.

Other cases involve dispensaries growing marijuana for patients, Margolin said. But they are about distributing marijuana directly to patients, rather than a separate establishment that grows marijuana and distributes it to dispensaries, as defendants in the case claim they were doing, he said.

The case for the appeal is strong, said medical marijuana advocate and expert witness Chris Conrad, who was slated to testify in the case. A previous case in which the state appeals court threw out the decision of a San Joaquin County court that refused to allow evidence of a medical marijuana operation to be presented in court.

Conrad said the key to Anderson, Newcomb and Shaw's case would be records documenting exactly to whom they were providing medical marijuana.

However, he said, medical marijuana providers are often nervous about documentation because it creates a paper trail that could make them subject to prosecution from the federal government, which does not legally recognize any form of marijuana possession as legal.

"Records that exonerate them under state law convict them under federal law," said Conrad. "It's a tough position to be in."
__________________
Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)


I am interested on the outcome..... I have the same Lawyer on my case as well....

[resipsa]

Bryn's attorney is just beginning to craft the writ for the Supreme Court. I can't wait to see it.

Below is information on how to write to Bryn and Paulie.

As of Monday July 13, 2009 you can reach Bryn Anderson and Paul Shaw at the addresses below. If you would like to visit, call 213-473-6100 and give the officer who answers the phone the booking numbers attached to each name below. They can give you information about visiting.

The booking numbers for Paul and Bryn must be on the envelope under their names and you must put a return address on the envelope. Letters are opened and read before being given to the prisoner, and their response back to you are read by the prison before being sent to you.

When you write, contraband, pictures of contraband (pot leaves are considered contraband) and pornographic images are not allowed.

Bryn is keeping careful track of everything he sees inside and plans to write about it, I sure any letters you get from him will be real eye openers. Paul is badly shaken and could use some words of cheer.

Getting lots of mail signals to guards and inmates that the prisoner has resources on the outside, and they tend to screw around with the prisoner less. Your letter, no matter how brief, will do more good than you can ever know.

Bryn Anderson
Booking Number: 1968505
Pitchess Detention Center South Facility
PO BOX 86164
Terminal Annex
Los Angeles, CA 90086-0164

Paul Shaw
Booking Number 1968541
North County Correctional Facility
PO Box 86164
Terminal Annex
Los Angeles CA 90086-0164

[All mail goes to a central place and is re-sorted and sent to the jail. It speeds things along if you put the actual name of the jail on the envelope]