Spiritual Aspect Of Marijuana

kaylee

New Member
I am forwarding this well documented situation because I had the pleasure of attending the Drug Policy Conference in New Orleans with this couple. They have visited in our Atlanta home. I know them to be sincere in their faith and honest in their efforts. From everything happening to them, it is apparent that the laws concerning religion in this country are arbitrary and the First Amendment in great jeopardy, which affects every one of us. If you don't know the law well enough to be of service, please pass this on. We have to knock on every door because we never know which one holds the solution.

With much Love,
Kay Lee
Welcome to Charter

Thursday, April 17, 2008 4:11 PM

Hi all,
Please take a few minutes to read Brenda's appeal for help and all that has transpired regarding our current legal case here in Alabama. If you know anyone that you think would be willing to help us, please forward this on to them. At this point, we are "enslaved" by the court and being treated as "guilty" until proven innocent. I'm not sure about you, but I remember from my history classes that it was supposed to be the other way around. Please help. We are completely destitute at this point, and ANY help would be greatly appreciated.


CALLING A CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY ANGEL... by Brenda Shoop


I feel all alone here. And I really need some help. I desperately need some help.

I need a hero.

I am Reverend Brenda Shoop, BSN, RN and my husband and I are cannabis sacrament ministers.
View our Fox 10 News Story

We are recognized ministers of the gospel who have been called forth in the revelatory Word to preach the good news that Jesus is the Anointed with marijuana.

On September 15, 2006, armed officers of the law, based on an “anonymous tip”, invaded our private sanctuary, uprooted and stole our religious sacrament (growing in the ministry’s garden), along with other religious paraphernalia. We were not arrested nor detained at that time.

On November 15, 2006, we were indicted by a grand jury and charged with felony drug trafficking in marijuana, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. We continue to assert that we do not understand the nature and cause of these accusations.
View The Indictment

On December 13, 2006, we “turned ourselves in” at the Baldwin County Corrections Center and were each released on $25,000 appearance bond. The electronic monitoring requirement was lifted due to the fact that we were not considered a flight risk by the sheriff or the District Attorney’s office.

The next day, FOX News reporter Adam Walser showed up at our home. He told us that the story would run with or without our input, so we decided to speak to the reporter. Immediately after the story ran on the news, my husband and I both lost our local employment. See News Story

On January 11, 2007, our attorneys of record advised us to sign waivers regarding our arraignments and enter pleas answering as to the charges against us. We were not aware of our rights at that time, and our attorneys did not advise us that we had other rights as specified in Article 1, Section 6 of The Alabama Constitution. In hindsight, this was clearly not in our best interests, as we do not understand the nature and cause of the accusations against us and have been denied the opportunity to ask the District Attorney questions regarding this matter.
See: Plea of Not Guilty and Waiver of Arraignment

On April 24, 2007, my attorney filed a Motion to Dismiss (a motion I wrote) for Violation of Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment and Religious Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, noticing the court of my religious beliefs and the nature of my defense.
View the first Motion To Dismiss

I specifically asked my attorney of record if I was free to travel, and he replied that I was. In fact, my pretrial docket call scheduled for June 28, 2007 was rescheduled by my attorney in order to allow me to work in south Florida. He encouraged me to work whenever and wherever I could so that I could pay him his fees.

My case was originally set in front of Judge Reid, the presiding judge, and was transferred into Judge Wilters’ courtroom (drug court) between August 30 and September 18, 2007. I continue to assert that my case is not a drug case. My case is a religious freedom case involving constitutional issues.

On October 16, 2007, I filed an Affidavit of Prejudice regarding Judge Robert E. Wilters. This affidavit was based on what I had been told about Judge Wilters from officers of the court, along with published articles; Judge Wilters is notorious for imposing Draconian sentences for drug offenders. I truly believed that I would not get fair and impartial treatment in Judge Wilters’ courtroom. I filed the affidavit expecting Judge Wilters to recuse himself, and expecting the DA’s office to schedule a meeting to discuss an alternate judge.
View the Affidavit of Prejudice for Judge Wilters

Instead, on October 18, 2007, during a pre-trial docket call (with motions still outstanding), Judge Wilters allowed my attorney to quit without cause after I paid the attorney $2,500. This was obviously in retaliation for filing the Affidavit of Prejudice. I was scheduled for trial in 11 days, October 29, 2007, without my outstanding motions being scheduled for hearing. Judge Wilters ordered me back into court on October 29th to answer as to the question of counsel.

On October 19, 2007, my husband and I mailed and hand delivered a letter to the presiding judge, Judge Reid, informing him that we felt that we were being denied due process of law, and asserting that we firmly believed that we would be unable to receive a fair and impartial trial with Judge Wilters presiding. Judge Reid refused to speak to us, and his secretary told us that he said that there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation.

On October 24, 2007, due to the fact that Judge Wilters had not recused himself, and allowed our paid attorneys to quit our cases without cause, my husband and I filed a Motion to schedule an ex parte hearing pursuant to Alabama Constitution Section 160, and asked the presiding judge to issue an order to the district attorney to meet for the purposes of mutual agreement for a competent judge to be assigned to our cases. We also filed for a continuance until after such meeting could be arranged. This motion has also never been heard or ruled on.

On October 29, 2007 I filed an Affidavit by a Professional Registered Nurse in Relation to the Failure of the Alabama Bar Association to Provide Effectual Counsel in Drug Related Actions by the State.

View The Affidavit Here

On October 29, 2007, due to a family emergency requiring our presence out of the state, we sent our Bishop, the Right Reverend Gregory Karl Davis, to speak for us and answer the court as to counsel with signed and notarized filings. At that time, Bishop Davis testified on the record as to our status’ as ministesr of the gospel and delivered to the Assistant District Attorney the Doctrine of the Revelatory Word and his Public Notice of Clergy.

View this document here

On that day, I was ordered by Judge Wilters, through my Bishop, to appear in his courtroom within 48 hours or risk bond revocation.

On October 31, 2007, I appeared in Judge Wilters’ courtroom without counsel and my bond was not revoked, but amended by adding the color-coded drug screening, and by ordering me to stay in Alabama while my husband was allowed to return to the ailing family member in our charge in Florida. I objected to this on the record, stating that these conditions were against the mandates of my religion, and signed the Drug Testing Form under duress.
In order to comply with the mandates of my religion, I was ordered by my Bishop not to comply with these orders of the court. I filed an immediate appeal, but it was dismissed because my bond wasn’t revoked; it was only amended.

On December 11, 2007 the Assistant DA filed State’s Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Violation of RFRA, etc.

View the State's response here

I filed my reply to this on January 10, 2008.

View my reply to State's response here

On January 10, 2008, I appeared in Judge Wilters’ courtroom, without counsel, for a scheduled date to hear “all outstanding motions.”

The only motion that was heard that day was the Assistant District Attorney’s motion to revoke my bond. I was forced, against objections, to submit to a urine drug screen or face 5 days in jail for contempt of court. My Bishop was in court with me to testify as to the orders of the Church, but he was not allowed the opportunity to testify on my behalf.

I informed Judge Wilters that I needed time to make a decision, and he appointed a “temporary” public defender who happened to be nearby in the courtroom. This attorney, John Gamble, stated to me that he was not familiar with constitutional law. He stated that he did not do well in that class in law school.

The public defender advised me to submit to the test. Attorney Donald Bolton told my husband and I, while we were interviewing attorneys, that we could both “look forward to getting raped in jail,” and because of this, I was afraid of going to jail. I agreed to submit to the test. The public defender was then dismissed by Judge Wilters. Christine Welch from the Baldwin County Court Referral Office administered the test and reported that it was positive for marijuana. Judge Wilters immediately revoked my bond; I was placed under arrest and led off to jail in handcuffs.

I was incarcerated in the Baldwin County Corrections Center from January 10 until February 1, 2008. I was kept in a cellblock with no heat, forced to put poison on my head, denied any contact with my husband, denied a religious diet, denied a Bible, and forced to give my blood or be put into isolation.

On January 31, 2008, I was brought into Judge Wilters’ courtroom with my new court-appointed attorney for a bond hearing so that I could be released from incarceration. At that time, the DA tried to use intercepted email communications between other people discussing my situation to deny my release from incarceration. In spite of this, my bond was set at $50,000, secured with my mother’s home. I was placed on the color-coded drug testing program, and I was put under house arrest.

I cannot practice my religion under threat of incarceration. I also cannot leave my home to go to work, buy groceries, or attend church services without the same threat of incarceration. The conditions state that I am only allowed to go to court, appointments with my attorney, and the drug testing center.
I continue to assert that these conditions of bond substantially burden the sincere practice of my religion. My court-appointed attorney has refused to appeal these conditions. On April 3, 2008, I was notified by my attorney that the DA had filed another motion to revoke my bond and issue a writ of arrest, based upon a positive drug screen from March 25th and failure to pay drug screening fees to the Court Referral Office. ($80)

On April 11, 2008, I filed into the record an affidavit of facts regarding the qualifications of my expert witness, my Bishop. My appointed attorney tried to block me from filing this, stating that my Bishop would only be certified as a “custodian of the record” and not “clergy.” My Bishop is not allowed to testify under those conditions. And he is my KEY witness, testifying to the doctrine of the Universal Orthodox Church, of which he is the founding Bishop. This testimony is crucial to my defense. After trying to obtain advice on this, with no results, I decided to file it into the record myself (before my impending docket call on April 14th). I felt compelled to get these documents into the record while I still could. In fact, after entering this document into the record, I felt a tremendous weight lift from my shoulders.

https://www.brothersformercy.org/knhtreatise.pdf

EXHIBITS ATTACHED
https://www.brothersformercy.org/A.pdf
https://www.brothersformercy.org/C.pdf
https://www.brothersformercy.org/D.pdf
YouTube - RUN FROM THE CURE - The Rick Simpson Story (Part 1 of 7)
https://www.brothersformercy.org/F.pdf
https://www.brothersformercy.org/G.pdf

I attended a pretrial docket call on Monday April 14, 2008 expecting to be put back into jail on that day. After arriving at the courtroom, my attorney served me with a motion to withdraw as counsel. He stated in his motion that I continue to file papers pro se, against advice of counsel, and we cannot have a functional relationship because of this. He also stated that he was afraid of a post-conviction lawsuit claiming ineffectual of counsel. My attorney obviously believes that I will be convicted of all charges.

On this day, the judge was not present in the courtroom; his secretary was handling the scheduling of trials for the next session. The DA’s motion to revoke my bond was not mentioned. Also, my attorney’s motion to withdraw was not recognized and he was ordered to appear with me on April 22, 2008 for our motions hearing.

My attorney also stated that the DA will most likely move to strike the documents containing my Bishop’s qualifications as an expert witness.
As stated above, the last time I was in court for a motion hearing, on January 10, 2008, the only motion heard was the DA’s motion to revoke my bond, and I was incarcerated. If history repeats itself, I expect to find myself in jail until the next trial session in August, without any of my motions being heard.

I have been continuously blocked from defending myself against these clearly unconstitutional actions of the state. I continue to assert that the use and cultivation of marijuana is mandated by my religion, and so protected by the First Amendment, the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment, and the Federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. My current bond conditions are also unconstitutional under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

This drama has been going on since September 15, 2006. Since that time, even though I have not been convicted of any crime, I have lost my job; my nursing license is under investigation; my body has been illegally searched (pee testing); I have been incarcerated and separated from my husband; I have been put under house arrest; I have been prevented from defending myself; I have been treated like a drug addict and criminal; and I have lost hope that the right and lawful actions will occur in my case.

I have lost all faith in the legal system and I have no one with whom I can place my trust.

If you are unable to help me, please forward my information to someone who you believe is able and willing.

And just in case I get placed back into custody on April 22, my address will be

Brenda Williams 86972
200 Hand Ave
Bay Minette, AL 36507

If I am not incarcerated on April 22, you can email me at Brenda@GreenEarthMinistries.org or call me at 251-753-8612.

THANK YOU AND BLESS YOU!

Religious freedom was the basis for the founding of our country, and it makes me sad that even here in the so-called Bible Belt, religious tolerance is severely lacking. No one was harmed due to plants growing in a garden. No one in the surrounding community knew who we were until the news cameras showed up.

The funny thing is…..if we bought our sacrament from the black market instead of growing it ourselves, no one would have EVER known we were here. But because we desired purity of our sacrament, we are each facing 10 years in prison and the rest of our lives as convicted felons. Neither one of us has ever been arrested before. I don’t understand why we are being treated so badly.

PLEASE HELP!!!
Thank you,
Brenda Shoop
Green Earth Ministries
www.GreenEarthMinistries.org
 
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