Missoula At a court hearing in Missoula on Friday, a federal agent admitted they had no idea how much marijuana a pair of Bozeman medical marijuana providers were allowed to have when they raided their store and home last spring with another saying the only patients using the maximum allowed were doing so illegally.
Federal prosecutors have charged Jesse Walter Campbell, a Bozeman-based provider, and Michael James Mason, who worked for the statewide dispensary Montana Buds, with conspiracy and possession of marijuana. Charlton Victor Campbell, the third man charged in the case, has accepted a plea agreement from prosecutors but has yet to plead guilty.
The attorneys for Mason and Campbell asked for a special hearing, claiming that a prior decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals means that the U.S. Department of Justice cant prosecute medical marijuana providers who are obeying their state medical marijuana laws.
What that decision doesnt say, however, is which side needs to prove whether a provider was in compliance or not and how stringent the burden of proof needs to be.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Dana Christensen started the hearing by saying he would allow for a shifting burden of proof asking first for prosecutors to show how the defendants violated the state law before, then, if he felt necessary, calling on the defense attorneys to show how their clients were in compliance. He said after the hearing was over, he would make a determination on which side needed to prove what and whether they met their burden.
Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Bryan Fillinger, who filed a search warrant for Campbells home, said he based it off a source who told him he regularly went to the house and bought large amounts of marijuana. Under cross-examination from Campbells attorney Lisa Bazant, Fillinger said he never corroborated whether the purchases actually happened and agreed that the source was at the time charged with 10 different felonies in the Bozeman area for forgery and identity theft. Bazant said given the circumstances, the man may have been prone to lying.
She questioned if the agent knew under state law how many plants and how much processed marijuana Campbell was legally allowed to own as a provider in Montana. Fillinger said the amount he was told was purchased was above the limit. Bazant added that the law at the time allowed him to have an ounce per customer per day and to keep a stockpile of 17 days’ supply on hand.
Fillinger took issue with the state limits, saying anyone using the maximum was clearly reselling it illegally.
Nobody in this country smokes an ounce of marijuana a day. Nobody, he said. I think you know that the people youre selling to are selling it on the black market.
He also said he never talked to the Montana agency that regulates medical marijuana patients to see how many Campbell had, saying in a prior case a state worker had leaked to the provider they were being investigated.
Lee Herd, another DEA special agent who conducted the search warrant raid on Campbells house in the spring of 2016, also agreed that he didnt know the state laws at the time and had no idea what Campbell was allowed to have under the regulations.
The search found 185 marijuana plants as well as roughly $80,000 in cash and 35 pounds of processed marijuana. DEA agents also found 29 cartridges containing hash oil that would be smoked using an e-cigarette device.
At the end of the day Friday, Christensen said the matter would have to be finished up at a later date. Because he will be out of the office on vacation for several weeks, he said its likely to be around a month before the second half of the hearing can take place.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Drug Enforcement Agents Say They Didn’t Know Montana Law When They Raided Medical Businesses
Author: Dillon Kato
Contact: (800) 877-1074
Photo Credit: Eliza Wiley
Website: Montana Standard
