Supremes Reverse Coa On King & Kolonek

[Wild Bill]

The county spends the same thing they would if they didn't appeal. The prosecutor's office has a budget and is allocated x amount of $ per year. They have an attorney, or group of attorneys, assigned to doing appeals. It isn't a matter of spending more money it's a matter of allocating their time. The appeals dept. would get paid the same whether they brought this appeal, a different appeal, or just sat on their hands.

 

They get paid the same, but if they don't spend all of the money in their budget they don't get as much next time.

 

That is how government finances work. I've personally known government employees who were told,

"I don't care if you have to buy $10,000 worth of paper clips, we have to spend that money by the end of June or we lose it."

 

It is in the best financial interest of their departments to spend as much as possible so they can go to the budget meetings and say "We need more money, there wasn't enough to handle all the drug prosecutions last year."

[CaveatLector]

They get paid the same, but if they don't spend all of the money in their budget they don't get as much next time.

 

That is how government finances work. I've personally known government employees who were told,

"I don't care if you have to buy $10,000 worth of paper clips, we have to spend that money by the end of June or we lose it."

 

It is in the best financial interest of their departments to spend as much as possible so they can go to the budget meetings and say "We need more money, there wasn't enough to handle all the drug prosecutions last year."

You are correct. Generally you won't get as much money in your budget from the powers that be if you didn't use up what they gave you last year. That is because your department is then viewed as not having needed that much money.

 

However, the prosecutor's office has staff attorneys that handle appeals. Just like they pick and choose which cases to offer plea deals on they similarly pick and choose which cases to appeal. In other words there are usually more than enough cases to appeal to keep the staff busy. So some cases go unappealed. The cases that are appealed are chosen for policy reasons or because the prosecutor truly believes that there is a strong issue grounded in law that would allow for a successful appeal.

 

So the point is they aren't spending more money undertaking appeals because if they weren't appealing case x then they would appeal case y. Remember, they don't pay court costs, filing fees, etc. Their only cost is generally manpower and because they didn't hire an attorney specifically to appeal the case then they are paying the same for the manpower either way.

[CaveatLector]

With that said I highly doubt it cost them $200k to appeal the case. They probably had 1 assistant prosecutor research and write the brief for appeal and it probably took them, at most, a week to do that. Factor in the day of work to argue the case and factor in the clerical work to file, print, mail, etc. There's no way they had that much money into the appeal. Assistant prosecutors in Oakland county maybe have a starting salary of $45k. The ceiling is probably under $100k. So even being generous and assuming it took an APA a full month of full time work to research, write, and argue the appeal, there is no way it approached those numbers.

 

I would guess the appeal could approach $200k if they used gold leaf on the paper.

Edited June 13, 2012 by CaveatLector

[KindWave Hydro]

Here's an update friends

 

The Judge for what ever reason has felt the bunny muffin for brains prosecutor has a right to now focus on the legitimacy of doctor patient

relationship etc...

 

They have rescheduled a dismissal hearing for Sept 12

 

All Dr's that have written approvals for myself and my patients are to be subpenoed and show up

They apparently feel they are doctors now and have the right to dig into patient's medical history

and Their doctors recommendations ..

 

The fact that they are inconveniencing these Dr's is disgusting .

They made the remark to my attorney that they felt they weren't actual dr's but fakes or wanna be

Marijuana Dr's....

 

 

It's just sickening and uneccessary ....

I've had to sell alomost every material possession I own to keep paying the legal fees..

Edited June 14, 2012 by KindWave Hydro

[bobandtorey]

Here's an update friends

 

The Judge for what ever reason has felt the bunny muffin for brains prosecutor has a right to now focus on the legitimacy of doctor patient

relationship etc...

 

They have rescheduled a dismissal hearing for Sept 12

 

All Dr's that have written approvals for myself and my patients are to be subpenoed and show up

They apparently feel they are doctors now and have the right to dig into patient's medical history

and Their doctors recommendations ...

 

How utterly pathetic and sick to think this new judge, a woman who is touted as Liberal and a genuine

person would approve this ...

 

Now that They have been shut down on all fronts with a sect 4 defense this is all they are grasping .

 

The fact that they are inconveniencing these Dr's is disgusting .

They made the remark to my attorney that they felt they weren't actual dr's but fakes or wanna be

Marijuana Dr's....

 

well they're gonna get some very real dr's in there with all my patients and a whole group activists

patients in wheel chairs and a circus now....

 

Will arrange a few documentary writers interested in my story to come along as well

Gonna let the whole state see what is going on in this county now...

 

 

The fact that they have all my equipment now fora year, it will be 14 months in Sept

I have not been able to provide meds for my patients ,,,and the revenue that has been

lost on my part for compensation is growing exponentially .

 

It's just sickening and uneccessary ....

I've had to sell alomost every material possession I own to keep paying the legal fees..

 

When it comes time to pay the piper ,the county is gonna pay hard ,and all involved in this

will be held accountable fully ,,,I'm done being a nice guy ....

My Attorney has some real nice surprises for them in Sept....

am so sorry for all of you i just new they would not give it up as for the Doc:s we have already been their done that and are case it's over 3.5 years now

so just hang in their (if you have the money) most don't

i hope you win Big and get your things back

[CaveatLector]

Hope it works out well. Hope your docs crossed their Ts and dotted their Is.

 

I will add that this is a teachable moment. It goes to the heart of what Dr Bob has been trying to pound into people. Go the extra mile to be sure you have sufficient evidence to support the Dr/Pt relationship.

[CaveatLector]

My evidentiary Hearing is tomorrow morning

My Affirmative defense has been submitted under sec #4

and a request for dismissal sent to the PA in Lenawee county

 

Hey, what do you mean by your aff def has been submitted under sec. 4?

Did you and your patients have cards but you are still needing to rely on the AD due to weight or plant count issues?

[KindWave Hydro]

k

Edited June 14, 2012 by KindWave Hydro

[KindWave Hydro]

k

Edited June 14, 2012 by KindWave Hydro

[+Annnie]

Thank god you get to tell the truth..

[GregS]

You will win in court, now or later.

[GregS]

Cannabando (kn--bnd)

 

n. pl. cannabandos or cannabandoes

 

1. An elite resident of the State of Michigan who qualifies to use cannabis for medically necessary purposes, but declines the protections afforded in §4 of The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, and instead enjoys the sparser requirements and the extensive protections found in §8 of that same law.

 

2. (a member of) a unit of geurilla growers specially trained for tasks requiring special courage and skill.

 

3. (modifier) denoting or relating to a cannabando or force of cannabandoes: a cannabando raid or a cannabando unit.

 

adv. To go cannabando, i.e, with the barest requirements.

Edited June 14, 2012 by GregS

[Morhawk]

La la edit..

Edited June 15, 2012 by Morhawk

[bobandtorey]

Hey, what do you mean by your aff def has been submitted under sec. 4?

Did you and your patients have cards but you are still needing to rely on the AD due to weight or plant count issues?

 

imho the A.D is all any one has because if you have a card you are not suppose to be in court

[KindWave Hydro]

You will win in court, now or later.

 

 

Thanks so much Greg ...

 

yes we will win and I'm going to just chill out ...

Let this get behind me and take my lumps

 

I'll be happy just getting everything returned to me they took and

look forward to enjoying a new career I have before me as a Project manager

for a local corporation and have a tiny lil modest grow ...

 

Besides kicking the hornet's nest I've decided best to raise my daughter her last

two years in HS here and focus on that .

I've lived in this county most of my life and don't wanna be harrassed any longer

Rubbing their noses in the dung isn't going to help that along..

 

I'll just enjoy the protection of section 4 now and hit the reset button...

[bobandtorey]

Thanks so much Greg ... yes we will win and I'm going to just chill out ... Let this get behind me and take my lumps I'll be happy just getting everything returned to me they took and look forward to enjoying a new career I have before me as a Project manager for a local corporation and have a tiny lil modest grow ... Besides kicking the hornet's nest I've decided best to raise my daughter her last two years in HS here and focus on that . I've lived in this county most of my life and don't wanna be harrassed any longer Rubbing their noses in the dung isn't going to help that along.. I'll just enjoy the protection of section 4 now and hit the reset button...

 

Let this get behind me and take my lumps ??? are you saying your going to give up? or fight?

[Dr. Bob]

Guess everything I have been saying since the Redden decision is coming home to roost. Those that listened should have nothing to worry about.

 

Patients have an obligation for their own safety, I've put out the elements of a bona fide dr/pt relationship several times. No record certs, certs through the mail, no physician clinics simply will not cut it. It is unfortunate that patients have taken the easy way out, cheapest signature they could find. The so called 'certification clinic events' that cater to this lack of concern (if it isn't illegal why worry about it, no one has been caught yet, right?) selling signatures through the mail, etc have set you up to line their own pockets.

 

Love and kisses as they say.

 

Next time go to a professional clinic.

 

Dr. Bob

 

Here is what is going on down in Berrien, know your enemy....

 

ST. JOSEPH — Michigan Supreme Court recently overturned as too restrictive lower court interpretations of the medical marijuana statute.

 

The high court, in its first major ruling arising from medical marijuana use, found the state’s voter-approved law on medicinal pot provides broad legal protection from prosecution — even for patients not registered for a state medical marijuana card.

 

“It didn’t get much (attention),” Berrien County Prosecutor Art Cotter said Thursday, “but it’s a significant case.”

 

In the Oakland County case, the court said the law allows a person arrested on a marijuana-related offense to mount a medical marijuana defense, so long as its use was recommended by a doctor after the 2008 enactment of the law and before the arrest.

 

The court found defendant Alexander Kolanek could not use such a defense because his doctor’s recommendation followed his arrest.

 

In a Shiawassee County case, the high court said defendant Larry King deserved an evidentiary hearing on whether he kept his medical marijuana in what the law would define as a secure facility.

 

“By the Supreme Court overruling the Court of Appeals,” Cotter told the board of commissioners administration committee, “Somebody who’s growing marijuana and claiming it’s for medical use can assert that defense and potentially have the case dismissed” even if exceeding the 12-plant limit.

 

With the burden of proof shifted to the defendant, “They have to show it’s not an unreasonable amount to assure the uninterrupted supply of marijuana,” Cotter said. “The scenario I’m dealing with is the police get a call, there’s 12 marijuana plants growing in the backyard. Neighbors complain. The person has a card and is under the limit of 12, but they’re not going to comply with keeping it locked inside because they don’t want to pay for lights and electricity. They assert the affirmative defense and may actually win. That’s a green light. Every teen-ager in every neighborhood is going to be doing midnight raids on their stash.

 

“I’m formulating a response on how I’m going to deal with this in Berrien County,” Cotter continued. “Prosecutors need to decide how much their tolerance is over 12 to make them come in and prove the affirmative defense. I can’t really pierce the validity of the issuance of that card, but in the affirmative defense the burden’s on them and I can challenge the B.S. of why they’re getting cards. In my judgment, 95 percent are bogus.

 

“I’m not going to let people grow marijuana in the open. For law enforcement, patients and the public, you have to give a bright line. Twelve is 12. If you have more than that, I may bring you in. One incentive to stay within the limit is an Attorney General opinion that, once seized, nobody can order a police department to give back marijuana and commit a federal felony. You may or may not win, but even if you win, you’re not going to get your dope back. I oppose decriminalization. We need to give the public the choice again to limit it to cancer patients, HIV, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma.”

 

Chairman R. McKinley Elliott, an attorney, said since the statute requires doctor-documented debilitating medical conditions, “Let’s deal with the licensed, regulated physicians if they act outside the authority delegated by the Legislature. The Legislature needs to rein them in. They’re prostituting their license. They’re bottom feeders in the physician aquarium.”

 

“There’s no will to do that,” Cotter said. “A percentage of the Legislature wants to legalize and tax it.”

[AlternativeSolutionsPlus]

We found this article of Michael's on the newswire.

 

Michigan Supreme Court Upholds Voters' Intent

By Michael Komorn

Source: Huffington Post

 

Michigan -- On Thursday, May 31, the Michigan Supreme Court unanimously agreed to overturn a decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals and protect medical marijuana patients and caregivers, preserving the intent of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA). The highest court in the state, in reviewing two cases -- Larry King in Shiawassee County and Alexander Kolanek in Oakland County -- ruled that registered and unregistered medical marijuana patients and caregivers are entitled to a medical marijuana defense, so long as they meet the requirement of Section 8 of the MMMA.*

 

The court relied heavily on ballot language, notably to, "permit registered and unregistered patients and primary caregivers to assert medical reasons for using marijuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marijuana." Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved the Act in November 2008.

 

This admittedly broader interpretation of the law finally follows what many courts have failed to do since the MMMA was enacted -- listen to the will of the people and truly understand the intent of the law. Voters approved the MMMA as a means to help patients and caregivers, protect them from arrest and allow them to achieve a higher quality of life through the use of medical marijuana.

 

In the last two years since the Court of Appeals decision, patients and caregivers have suffered greatly because of such a narrow interpretation of the law. Many of those cases will undoubtedly be revisited, with patients being properly defended and allowed to rely on a law some judges disallowed in their courtrooms because of personal bias.

 

Beyond the aforementioned cases and potential appeals, this decision has a huge impact moving forward for patients, caregivers and law enforcement.

 

With several bills being debated in the Michigan Senate that could change the MMMA, including one that would provide the names of registered patients to law enforcement officials, the Supreme Court's decision has the power to render them obsolete before being voted on. While many politicians are working diligently to pick apart the MMMA by drafting and sponsoring bills to further restrict access and patient protections, the state's highest legal authority is essentially saying their efforts are wrong.

 

If HB 4834 were to be passed, providing patient medical information to law enforcement, new and re-applying patients can avoid potential conflict by simply not sending their paperwork in to the state. The Court's decision allows for those with an established doctor-patient relationship to present a medical marijuana defense, regardless of status with the state.

 

Currently, the MMMA protects patients in Section 6h by guaranteeing confidentiality and exemption from the Freedom of Information Act. Imagine being pulled over, and instead of being issued a warning or a ticket, the officer has access to your entire medical history, and uses it against you. The medical marihuana registry must remain confidential in order for the MMMA to work, and for patients to trust in it.

 

The bill passing could encourage patients to no longer apply to the state, but still go through the registration and medical processes to protect themselves, resulting in fewer applications and less money for the state. Politicians may not realize it now, but the bills they are attempting to pass are not doing anything to regulate medical marijuana, only making it more dangerous for already scared patients trying to find relief.

 

The timing of the Supreme Court's decision also couldn't be more poetic, and comes when the state's patients and caregivers are being harassed more than ever. With this ruling, Michigan legislators should shelve all the proposed medical marijuana bills and reevaluate the true issues -- making medical marijuana access better and safer for patients, protecting the law of the people and setting their personal agendas aside in a quest to better serve their constituents.

 

It will be interesting to see how police and prosecutors handle future medical marijuana cases in light of the Supreme Court's decision, now that each case will potentially be evaluated by juries made up of the same voting public who approved the Act.

 

*Section 8 - Except as provided in section 7, a patient and a patient's primary caregiver, if any, may assert the medical purpose for using marihuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marihuana, and this defense shall be presumed valid.

 

Author: Michael Komorn

Published: June 14, 2012

[Shredder]

Berrian county, the new whine capital of MI, what a bunch of sour grapes, eh? Sounds like they are sore losers........shredder

[Dr. Bob]

Yes they are, yes they will lose, but yes they will put patients through hell. Be aware of the PROPER method of running a certification CLINIC- records are required, the doctor sees the patient (two more reports of presigned certs/no doctor today from a clinic ACTIVE IN BERRIEN), no certifications by 'remote control' in the mail.

 

This guy is gunning for patients in his county and we are not exactly leading with our best foot forward over there. Patients need to be aware of what is required, we need to challenge him with SOLID certifications, not 'certification clinic events' run for a fast buck with minimal documentation. Let's hand the prosecutor his tail when he tries to challenge one.

 

Dr. Bob

[+Annnie]

LOL i am really trying hard to be nice....

 

 

GREAT ARTICLE MICHEAL!! Thanks for the postive Posting Alternative Solutions Plus...

[Dr. Bob]

Posting an article by Michael speculating about how the leo will interpret the ruling is interesting from a historical point of view. The recent theme of this thread is how they ARE interpreting it, they are challenging the certification and calling the doctor in to testify. Interesting how that will go if you got a certification through the mail, or you went to a 'doctor less' clinic in Marquette, Gaylord, Muskegon, or many other locations where less than ethical 'clinics' have been operating.

 

Dr. Bob

[Kingpinn]

Ill be testing his train of thought right away. To bad Im not in Berrien Co. Officers killed my 12 plants before I was even arrested .And im going to demand that im compensated for those plants killed.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Kingpinn

[Shredder]

Posting an article by Michael speculating about how the leo will interpret the ruling is interesting from a historical point of view. The recent theme of this thread is how they ARE interpreting it, they are challenging the certification and calling the doctor in to testify. Interesting how that will go if you got a certification through the mail, or you went to a 'doctor less' clinic in Marquette, Gaylord, Muskegon, or many other locations where less than ethical 'clinics' have been operating.

 

Dr. Bob

 

I doubt anyone with a true disability would be in trouble, I see it as just hot air from a whacko prosecutor. His statement about 95% of patients cheating will make for nice court room drama when he plays doctor in court, lol, almost any lawyer would feast on those comments in court. They are mad about the latest SC decision.......tough. These guys don't like a level playing field....again.....tough

 

Like what MK said we don't know how prosecutors will react, but it should be interesting, all the guy in berrian did was posture, like my 14 lb dog does, with maybe the same effect. I imagine just like before, some PA's will still be nuts and some not so nuts, but there is a new law of the land, and it's called section 8, and they are bound by it........shredder

[maxmax]

Ill be testing his train of thought right away. To bad Im not in Berrien Co. Officers killed my 12 plants before I was even arrested .And im going to demand that im compensated for those plants killed.

 

and i do think you will be