Test Case #1 – Redden & Clark
Madison Heights – A dozen MMMA supporters gathered outside the 43rd District court house in Madison Heights at 7:45am to witness how justice was dispensed in Oakland County. Medical marijuana community members from as far away as Saginaw and Lansing loaded up in the pre-dawn hours and hit the road to hear Judge Robert Parker say, ALL CHARGES ARE DISMISSED!
Assembled in the parking lot before the hearing, a dozen supporters waited anxiously for the attorneys to arrive before everyone made their way inside the building. All the while, court officers kept a good eye on the group of "marijuana people", half expecting to catch them smoking the demon weed right there in the parking lot. Everyone made it through the metal detectors, but a few supporters were forbidden from entering the courtroom because they wore jeans.
Judge Parker was prompt, hearing his first case at 8:05am, a shoplifting case that was over in 5 minutes. Bob and Tori's case was second on the docket and took a bit longer to conclude. Assistant O.C. Prosecutor Beth Hand, whose short skirt was more appropriate for a cocktail waitress than a prosecutor, immediately launched into a rant about Redden and Clark not being eligible to use the Affirmative Defense provision because they didn't have their Registry I.D. Cards from the state, demonstrating her complete ignorance (or disdain) of this law. She repeatedly argued that Section 7 (333.26427 Scope of act; limitations), was not met thus Section 8 (333.26428 Affirmative Defense and Dismissal for Medical Marihuana) did not apply. Hand tried clarifying and refining her position for almost ten minutes as Judge Parker, defense attorneys and the gallery were all having a difficult time understanding her logic (if there was any). After repeated sustained defense objections, Hand realized she was getting nowhere fast, she rested her argument and Judge Parker summarily ruled her argument had no merit. As Hand returned to her seat she was heard mumbling; "I disagree with the court, but you're the judge...(pause).. and a really good one." That utterance brought a chuckle from the gallery and a steely glare from Judge Parker.
When the defense finally got their turn to present facts to the judge, Plymouth attorney Rob Mullan, presented his opening statement, deftly deconstructing the prosecutions argument using language directly from Initiated Law 1 of 2008 (the MMM Act). Mullan, buttressed by a seasoned Cannabis Counsel, Matt Abel, laid out their interpretation of the Act and why the Affirmative Defense provision was applicable for Redden and Clark. After the defenses opening statement, Judge Parker ordered a short recess prompting Hand to run to the lavatory and then outside to have a smoke, her frustration was visible to all.
After the break, Judge Parker took a few minutes to examine defense exhibits before allowing Mullan to call his first witness, Dr. Eric Eisenbud, The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation physician who wrote the recommendations of Redden and Clark. Mullan lobbed a few softball questions at Dr. Eisenbud about his experience and qualifications. Eisenbud elaborated on his 37-year career including his 19 month association with THCF, clinic procedures for processing patients, and specifically his examination of Redden and Clark. 15 minutes was all Mullan needed to demonstrate Eisenbud's qualifications to write medical marijuana recommendations, and the defense rested.
By this time, Hand was eager to question Eisenbud, and wasted no time trying to impeach the good doctor's credibility. For the ensuing 30 minutes, Hand, interrupted by numerous defense objections, tried every possible angle to gain access to the personal medical records of Redden and Clark. When Judge Parker shut her down, she pursued her next straw man by trying to define the doctor/patient relationship. She methodically broke down what happens on a normal clinic visit, trying to argue that one 30-minute visit with a physician did not constitute a doctor/patient relationship. That logic was quickly snubbed by the judge himself when he personally noted that if he's lucky to get that much time with his own physician. You could literally see the blood drain from Hands face as the judge related his story and that's when this reporter knew this case was in the bag!
It was at this point when Hand revealed just how desperate she was. She wanted to recall an officer who was prepared to testify that Redden and Clark are habitual offenders, but defense attorney Mullan conceded the pair's colorful past and pointed out, using the arresting officer's own words to illustrate that Redden and Clark didn't appear to be manufacturing any marijuana for sale, but rather for personal consumption. That's when Hand threw her "hail mary pass" by requesting an adjournment so she could find a physician to rebut Eisenbud's testimony. But Judge Parker would have none of it and told Hand she should have had her expert present at this trial, and that she had run out of time. Attorney Abel also tried to enter additional testimony regarding what "a reasonable amount of marijuana" meant under the Affirmative Defense, but after 3-1/2 hours, Judge Parker decided he'd heard enough and made his ruling.
Judge Parker did comment; "This is the worst piece of legislation I've ever seen in my life.", but he ultimately read the law like most of us in the medical marijuana community read it, and dismissed all charges against Redden and Clark based on the Affirmative Defense. This observer could tell it was a tough case for the judge. He went to extraordinary lengths by requiring Dr. Eisenbud to testify, he allowed the prosecutor limited latitude to question Eisenbud about the medical histories of Redden and Clark, and he's used to convicting marijuana users. But at the end of the day, Judge Parker upheld the integrity of our judicial system, and followed our law to the letter by dismissing all charges. Maybe the system we have ain't so bad. If you're willing to stand up against a malicious prosecutor, hell-bent on ringing up stats for a future run at public office, and you have a couple great lawyers, you can beat those unfit jurists who will say or do anything to advance their careers.
Congratulations Bob and Tori! Also good work to the suits!
im
so so happy for them and MINORML yes please keep up the good work for us. ooh yes now it time for crunch time pay me for my plants i hope they got there check book out
They owe Bob and Tory for
They owe Bob and Tory for much much more than just the plants.
After living in that house for thirty five years, Bob no longer feels safe in the home.
I expect the city to pay for a new house, All possible attorney fees and a few more bucks just because.
thank you
that was a good post MMMA SiteScribe
as you can see
he's used to convicting marijuana users but not this time
nice play by play
Asst. Prosecutor didn't have to much fun
Great job all!
GREAT
THIS IS GREAT .................Brings happy tears to your EYES........Group HUG!!!!!
best wishes
this is just excellent and whoever wrote this article did a great job, i felt like i was in the courtroom.
F'in wonderful! Kudos to
F'in wonderful! Kudos to judge parker on upholding the law, too (and i say this, even though i disdain the use of the word "kudos", and also disdain the remark about your new law)
A Great Read!!!
The Truth is coming out, and LEO better get used to it. The Anti-Marihuana Party is OVER! This was an excellent example of REAL JUSTICE, such a rarity in this day and age!
Bob and Torrey
I am so happy for you and I hope ya'll finally got a good night's sleep last night.
I'll bet the cocktail waitress didn't..LOL!
what scooter said.
you got that right scooter! FINALLY REAL JUSTICE! This one's for Bob and Torey. puff puff cough puff
Bob,,,,,, Tori Been waiting
Bob,,,,,, Tori
Been waiting to say this for a while now
TOLD YOU SO,,,,,,, HEHEHEHEHE
Great job all for stand up for all our rights.You dont have to bend over ANYMORE and take it in the backside.This law is here to stay and dont let them try to bully ya into thinkin it's not ment for you, THE PATIENT......
Great job and thank you for not caving in.
and
i TOLD YA SO,,HEHEHEHEHE
Have a great carefree day you two.
kruzty
exec dir
berrien county compassion club
Hand job
"she stepped out for a smoke", there you have it. Hand was under the influence of nicotine in a court room. How can anyone trust an nicotine addict to be a prosicuting attorney ? no wonder Madison Hieghts is screwed up.Glad I dont live down there...
Right on brotha...
right on!
nicotine addiction
Why did no one offer her a brochure on using Medical Cannabis to help her with her addiction?
She was probably too busy eh?
Halle-freekin-luja
Many, many thanks to all. To say the least.
Got me to thinkin' again; (uh-oh!) A while back we sent in a small token of support to help Bob & Tori to repair a broken doorway; Now, I think, is a perfect time to send another (all be it meager) token of support, on behalf of Bob & Torey, to help rebuild our communal psyche.
After all, all this jumping up and down (even mostly in my head : ) for joy can, afterwards, be a bit painful. : ]
But, it hurts so good, eh?
We've said it before, but we'll never grow tired of saying: "THANK YOU!" - to everyone.
Question now is, where to send it? We haven't yet discovered whether or not our prior contribution reached its destination; Which makes me wonder: did we send it to the wrong place?
To be on the safe side . . . Greg or Brad, can you, please, advise correct directions to send something to the proper place?
Same as before, as well as our two memberships, we would like to send something via paypal, which employs a different email address for sending than the one we use for our 3MA (cannabismedicus) correspondence.
Bob & Tori, may endless peace, blessings, and contentment replace the stress and mess you've been through for all of us. You guys rock!
Now, it's time to roll! : )
Congrats
What a wonderful feeling you must of had when the judge said " Dismissed". Looks like you made history in 2009. Great Job to all those who were helping getting this dismissed.
good point, Timi! you gotta
good point, Timi! you gotta watch them nicotineheads! they're shifty! lol
wish i could have been there. i would have followed her out and told her how bad that cigarette was for her, and how much healthier pure mj was lmao
this still pisses me off. i
this still pisses me off. i know it is hopefully over, but this still irks me: "Madison Heights police Officer Kirk Walker, who was in charge of the raid, testified police believed the new medical marijuana law didn't go into effect until April 4."
so, they must have been scrambling to get this done before April 4th, huh? Said they were raided on March 30. maybe in their rush, they could have doubled checked to see if they even knew what the hell they were doing? it would help to know the law, yes? isn't that their job, as officers, to know the law?
i think they each need to publicly apologize to bob and torey for putting them through hell the last months
Apologies to the judge
In the story above, we said the judges name was Parker. His name is actually Judge Robert Turner.
It was the most entertaining
3 1/2 hrs I had in a while...watching Ms. Hand squirm was wonderful. I prayed to the godz that the judge would come to a proper judgement in all of this, the ganja godz were listening to my pleas. I watched Torey's face light right up, poor gal has been thru alot and has been wasting away, losing 45 lbs in the course of a few months. Bob was a very happy man too. The small group of onlookers were overcome with relief and there were miles of smiles after the final part of this drama was played out. Congrats to both Bob and Torey...kudos go out to Mr. Mullan and Mr. Abel as they did a fine job defending them. And of course, Dr. Eisenbud, while a bit nervous on the stand, did an outstanding job. He thought long and hard about each answer before delivering it, which is how any good witness approaches this arduous task. It was the first time he has been called to testify in such a situation and he handled it professionally. All in all, a rewarding day...for all of us.
Peace...j.b.
p.s. the "afterglow" was a huge success also...nice to meet all of you that were there...
i was thinking
that when thing cool down here in Madison heights i would go back to the court room to see how this judge does on other MM cases if things are different some day i will my day today was very different as people know that i am moving as i was at the new house as i was coming out the back door i saw Leo in my driveway 2 cars they ask me if ever thing was all right i said yes am moving in here they said that they saw that the door was open meaning the side door so they left down the street and parked so i went back to Madison heights and packed my car more their at the end of my street i saw two more and then i stop at the subway to eat hazel park Leo was at the subway they were outside and the guy that was making my sub ask me what are they doing staring at us inside the store i said they had been doing this all day to me
I would call Bob or Matt (or
I would call Bob or Matt (or both) first thing in the morning and tell them about these cops.
Don't let it slide.
Sounds like a bunch
of street thugs casing thier next hit to me.Be wary BOB,hate is a powerful tool...
it's great that Bob & Tori
it's great that Bob & Tori got off, but the reporter who wrote this article needs to grow up... show a lil' bit of integrity & leave the snide lil' remarks out next time...u took a well written article & ruined it by taking cheap lil' digs at someone who never had the opprotunity to respond...instead of bashing the prosecutor & the cops who are only doing their jobs, we should be thanking them for giving us the chance to kick their @$$E$ all over court...just a thought :)
cops only doing there jobs?
IF the proscutors and cops were only doing there JOB right .There would not have been a TEST CASE........LEAVE THE PATIENTS ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry nesta
Beth Hand was not doing her job, she attempted to advance her career at the expense of real people's lives. Our entire staff, including the author of this story, will not let that go unchecked.
Frankly, I was a little disappointed that the author went so easy on her!
Bob and Torey
Congrats!!!!! Thank you for fighting the good fight to cement the voters will and our rights!!!!