To all our relations.  Mitakeoyasey

Greetings in the name of the most high, Jah Rastafari, ever faithful, ever sure, Jah Rastafari.

One Love Brethren.

 

Brethren, we have great good tidings to share.

 

On Saturday, January 27, 2007, a founding member of Multi-Denominational Ministry of Cannabis and Rastafari was pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer.  The officers' cause to pull him over was the drivers failure to mount a liscense plate on the front of the vehicle.  California code requires two liscense plates on the vehicle.  Our founder has California liscense plates.

 

Our founder was found to be in possession of a bag of marijuana flowers and his medical reccomendation.  Two officers, including duty supervisor Sargent Pointexter - the real drug warrior on this bust - decided to confiscate the marijuana.  They failed to give a receipt for it or the medical reccomendation that they also took - without a receipt.

 

Our founder contacted the church, we immediately filed a complaint thru the non-emergency dispatcher line and requested to speak to the duty sargent.  Sargent Stark refused to speak to us and told us - thru the dispatcher - to come to the California Highway Patrol office on monday.  Immediately the dispatcher was notified that this is a religious establishment and exercise matter, that the lawsuit over this was already filed in July 2006 and that he should tell Sargent Stark these facts and that we demand to speak to him immediately.  The dispatcher told us that he would not pass on any messages and then hung up. 

 

On Monday morning, January 30, 2006, at 9:00am the founder and Rev. Tom Brown, chairman of the Multi-Denominational Ministry of Cannabis and Rastafari legal committee, appeared at the office.  We spoke to Officer Mark Barnes, Badge Number 11479, as he was the officer who stopped and stole the marijuana and reccomendation without receipt.  The Supervisor - Pointexter - apparently approved or ordered this act.

 

Barnes refused to return the marijuana, told the founder that he would have to become some kind of county registered "caregiver", and that maybe then, and if, and why, and but for maybe, the founder might get his flowers back.

 

The founder turned to the legal committee chairman and asked for assistance.  The chairman then instructed Barnes in the religious exercise and establishment issues extent in the situation, the fact that the founder was well within the Trippett decision boundrys for transport of medical marijuana, that the lawsuit had already been filed - when Barnes stopped the conversation.  Barnes was told to pass the founder and chairman to his supervisor - which he did.

 

Sargent Holcomb, Badge Number 10851, then asked us into his office, got a chair for the founder to sit in and we proceded to talk.  The founder told the circumstances of the theft of the marijuana.  The Sargent then proceded to repeat and reinforce the same lies about 420's county guidelines and liscensing procedures.  The Sargent agreed that the marijuana flowers might never be recovered.

 

The founder then asked the chairrman for assistance and the chairman proceded to inform the Sargent about all of the above on religious establishment and exercise, the fact that under 215 the founder was totally in complaince, that the CHP Director had instructed the Sargent in writing to not intefere with medical marijuana, and the lawsuit had already been filed to which we would be glad to add his name as defendant also - whereupon the Sargent jumped up, ordered us out of the office and into the waiting room, and promised to return after confering with his supervisor.  The chairman informed the Sargent that they should contact Jack Woodside in the California State Attorney General's office for instruction on how to handle this case as Woodside is the lawyer representing Gov. Schwarzennegger in the lawsuit.

 

On a recent motion to dismiss the lawsuit for injunction, the Governor wrote that he would never cause his National Guard or CHP officers to violate state law in regards to medical or religious use of marijuana.  Now we have concrete proof to the contrary, happening to a church founder.

 

A ten minute wait in the waiting room, the Sargent Holcomb returns with smiles and tells us that the founder should really get with the county attorney to properly document his "420" status and that the marijuana is to be returned - as soon as they can find it - and yes a receipt should have been issued to the founder for whatever the officers took.

 

A few more minutes for the officers to officially weigh - it hadn't been done yet(?) - the flowers, all 32 ounces of the finest Northern California Grade 1 medical marijuana flowers, were returned.

 

How do you get something into the evidence locker without weighing it?  You can't, you got to fill out the paper.  The paper receipt is dated the 27th, but the chairman saw the officer tear the multiples apart as they approached with the bag on the 30th, and the Sargent and Barnes both said that they had just weighed the evidence for the first time and hadn't known how much it weighed prior to that. 

 

So if the evidence had never been logged into evidence, if we had never shown up on Monday to claim it, would the evidence even be evidence? 

 

So many questions, so little time!

 

One Love revtombrown