Gary Silva

[Jim Finnel]

The major reason the Riverside Co. DA filed charges against Gary is because he had the audacity to sue the county for the injuries he received when DEA agents and Riverside County Sheriff's officers raided his home. A month AFTER Gary served notice of intention to file a lawsuit for the injuries he sustained, the Riverside Co. DA's office filed criminal charges and began a malicious prosecution campaign against him.

The preliminary hearing this Thursday, Sept. 6 is where Gary's lawyer will move to have all charges dismissed. That's why this is the big one. The California Supreme Court in the Mower Decision ruled that all the defendant had to do was produce a reasonable doubt as to their guilt in order to have their case dismissed. Since Gary was a bona fide patient and caregiver, all charges should be dismissed. We will see so please join us this Thursday, Sept. 6 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio at 8:30 a.m.where we will root for justice and that all charges are dismissed.

The Larson Justice Center is located at 46200 Oasis Street in Indio.

In an ironic twist, today was the day that Gary and Krista took on Riverside County directly with the issuance of subpoenas to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff's officers and the DEA.

Ryan Michaels is a friend of Gary and here is what he wrote about their serving the subpoenas to Riverside County elected officials and law enforcement.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls -

I am proud to announce that today the County of Riverside Board of Supervisors, Riverside County Sheriffs Department, and a number of members of the DEA were served with summons and complaints regarding the personal injury of Garry Silva, the Sky Valley resident and qualified medicinal cannabis patient who was raided March 14, 2006 by the DEA regarding his cultivation of his medicinal cannabis.

This is an amazing step towards holding these individuals accountable for their actions.

Garry was injured severely in the raid, his shoulder was broken and dislocated and his original spinal damage was greatly exacerbated. I took little pleasure in personally delivering these summons. These individuals make a habit and lifestyle out of intimidating through force anyone brave enough to do something they personally disagree with.

I met with Frank Pepper - the lead officer in the investigation - and a member of the local branch of the Drug Enforcement Administration. I only hope that this effort to hold these individuals accountable will demonstrate a greater need at every level for the attention to the patients involved in this movement. It needs to be brought to public attention that the DEA makes no judgment between raiding a dispensary and raiding a 53-year-old spinal stenosis patient.

Please be sure to stay on top of Garry Silva's case, as you may or may not know he is also facing state charges for cultivation, although the DEA ultimately headed the investigation it is the state who picked up the evidence and decided to file charges against a qualified patient and caregiver acting in accordance with State Medicinal Cannabis laws.

Take care and stay safe, Ryan Michaels Patient Advocate

Gary and Krista will be Saturday's meeting to bring you up to date on the criminal charges and court proceedings against him as well as their lawsuit to hold Riverside County accountable for their despicable actions.

YouTube - Gary Silva Medical Marijuana Grower Gets Busted



News Hawk- User https://www.420magazine.com
Source: safeaccessnow.org
Contact: Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project
Copyright: safeaccessnow.org
Website: losangeles@lists.safeaccessnow.org

 

[Jim Finnel]

Re: UPDATE: Gary Silva Preliminary Hearing Soon

Gary Silva uses medical marijuana to alleviate pain from degenerative disk disease and nerve damage. Gary was asleep in his Sky Valley, California home, when the police came to the door. When Gary, who cultivated marijuana in his home on behalf of his patients' collective, went to undo the deadbolt, DEA agents kicked in the door. The force sent Gary sprawling to the floor, dislocating his shoulder and causing lacerations to his face. Gary had to go to the emergency room.

The DEA agents also pointed a gun at Gary's wife and daughter, confiscated 80 plants, some dry medicine, and a few old guns.

 

[Cozmo]

Man what is this world coming to?
The government need to leave sick people alone.

 

[RageMonkey]

If you wnat to make a difference, get a job at the DEA

"Destroy from within..."

 

[zolar]

what ever happened to policew brutallity investigations ?

 

[RageMonkey]

I really empathize for the cops. They are amped up on fear, steroids, an authority complex, and usually a few marital problems. Think how many times they go in to raid a house and it's full of crack heads or gang members. unfortunately, they make very little distinction between guys like Gary and a 2 time convicted Hell's Angel. They go into a situation like that expecting Gary to come out shooting like Yosemite Sam. Granted it's a little rough hitting him with the door in an attempt to enter while maintaining an element of surprise, but in their defense he wasn't seriously injured and his family wasn't shot. They may have been a bit overzealous, but it's not like he's missing an arm, etc.

on the other hand, I think it was somewhat irresponsible of Gary to conduct those activities in his home where children are present when he should know what could happen if the police were to raid. Gary put his family in front of those guns. I would not blame the cops for that. The cops are doing what society says is acceptable for them to do.

There are ways for Gary to stage his protest and grow his weed without endangering his family or making himself a martyr.

 

[Jim Finnel]

The cops are doing what society says is acceptable for them to do.

not in my experience. i find that cops will do whatever best fits their agendas and if that means breaking laws and then lying and covering up its just what ya gotta do when your fighting perceived evil or you just enjoy bulling people.

 

[FreakNature]

RageMonkey, with all due respect, I have to disagree w/ your perspective here. I don't empathize w/ the LEOs at all in this situation. I empathize with Gary and his family. There's nothing dangerous about growing medicine for sick people, or taking natural medicine for pain. The man was living a peaceful life when the cops busted his door down and very well could have killed him or others in his family.

CA is a legal MMJ state. What's wrong, unjust, unsafe, is fighting a war against a beneficial plant and those that take advantage of the benefits. The DEA in a case like this is just wielding it's power against a virtually defenseless foe. There are plenty of other drugs that are killing people that they should be focusing on. Attacking MMJ users is nothing more than taking the easy route, avoiding the difficult tasks that they should be addressing.

Whatever their experience is with busting twice-convicted Hell's Angels, there is no excuse for busting up an innocent family man already suffering from previous injuries, and threatening his wife and kids with guns. Gary didn't put his family in front of those loaded weapons. Poor decisions by the DEA, and uncaring overzealous drug warriors made that presentation.

I hope the agents / cops involved in this get their freedom taken away for awhile, and / or suffer huge monetary losses in the settlement.

 

[RageMonkey]

I hear ya, Freaky. Believe me I'm not fan of LEO. However, I can't really blame the officers participating in the raid for approaching the situation like they are raiding la casa de Scarface. They go into these situations amped up for a fight and gary should expect that. Gary is participating in somehting that could end up with a violent raid of his home.

I just think he should have tried to consider this possibility before he brought his cannabis farm into his home thus exposing his family to harm.

Regardless of how I feel about cannabis, I have little respect for someone who would expose children to harm. If he is convicted of these crimes, which could very well happen under Federal law - he could lose his kids.

Just because he feels he has the right to grow weed in his home as long as it is meant for medical users, doesn't mean he should be void of responsibility for his children's future. I just think he should know better.

 

[FreakNature]

Well you're right w/respect to the kids. What makes it wrong is the prohibition, and that's just sad. OK to drink and smoke tobacco (known killers) , but a harmless herb is a federal offense. I favor the 10th amendment to our Constitution w/respect to states rights. Nevertheless, I quit smoking for 15 years because of the kids. Chronic pain is drawing me back.

 

[RageMonkey]

Well you're right w/respect to the kids. What makes it wrong is the prohibition, and that's just sad. OK to drink and smoke tobacco (known killers) , but a harmless herb is a federal offense. I favor the 10th amendment to our Constitution w/respect to states rights. Nevertheless, I quit smoking for 15 years because of the kids. Chronic pain is drawing me back.

In my opinion, it should be completely legal and openly available. However, it's going to take alot of martyrs before we could ever to get to that point in this country. I think that price is probably alot more than modern Americans would be willing to pay.

We live in a wierd time. Politicians are being forced to address the fact that 80% of Americans believe MJ should be available for medical purposes. However, a vast majority opposes widespread legalization and decriminalization.

Personally, I would like to see a disabled medical marijuana user elected to the US Senate. It would have to be someone visibly disabled with a strong charismatic quality.

It seems to me that the current lobbying efforts concentrate more on collecting donations, pointing out martyrs, not being taken seriously, and collecting more donations.

But what do I know. I've been looking into moving abroad for a few years now and I'm getting extremely close to moving to South East Asia where the US dollar is still worth something.

We live in the Land of the Free where nobody is allowed to do anything.