Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Despite pro-pot pamphleteering on Monday that a prosecutor described as "a serious taint" on the jury pool, jurors were seated and testimony began Wednesday in the marijuana trial of Nancy Harris.
The 56-year-old Harris, a self-described "cannabis minister," is facing charges of first-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and possession of drug paraphernalia. If convicted, she faces 20 years in prison.
In his opening statement, Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville said that officers who entered the driveway of the Sacred Truth Mission in Hawaiian Acres in the early evening of Feb. 15, 2007, found "in plain and open view ... a cultivated marijuana plant."
"Posted on the premises, was a sign detailing a professed belief of the Sacred Truth Mission church that they were mandated to smoke copious quantities of marijuana and grow enormous crops of ganja, which is just another term for marijuana," Damerville told the jury.
Damerville said the evidence will show Harris possessed "more than 100 cultivated marijuana plants" and "more than an ounce of marijuana," as well as "paraphernalia used for cultivating, processing, storing and ingesting a controlled substance, marijuana."
The state's first witness, Officer Peter Fernandez, said he was assigned the duty of photographing the evidence by the lead investigator, former Officer John Weber. Fernandez testified that when he and Weber drove into the driveway, they saw a single marijuana plant near a statue of St. Mary.
Fernandez said Harris was then arrested, and he and others, including a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent, were left behind to "secure the premises" while Weber went back to Hilo to obtain a search warrant. Fernandez said that during the search, officers found marijuana in the house, the garage and a greenhouse.
"When you drove down the driveway, were there (no) trespassing signs?" Damerville asked.
"No," Fernandez replied.
"Was there a gate?"
"No."
Fernandez later testified there was a chain across the driveway, but it was on the ground. He also testified that Weber did not tell him beforehand why they went to the property.
On cross-examination, Harris' lead attorney, Paul Sulla, asked if Fernandez knew why Weber left the police department, and Damerville objected on the grounds that it was "beyond the scope of the direct examination of this witness." His objection was sustained by Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara.
Sulla, who's expected to mount a religious defense for Harris, showed Fernandez and the jury a sign that was posted on the premises that read: "Sacred Truth Mission, Established 2002, Holy Sanctuary, No firearms, poison or hate."
"What did it tell you?" Sulla inquired.
"That it was a church," Fernandez said.
"When you knew you were going to a church, did it raise any suspicions in your mind?"
"No."
"... Did Officer Weber or you carry your sidearms that day?"
"I did."
"But the sign said that it was not allowed. Did you pay any attention to that?"
"No."
In a statement distributed on Facebook before the trial, Harris alleged that Weber and the other officers conducted an illegal search. Weber, who lives on the mainland, is on the prosecution's witness list, but Damerville said he doesn't know yet if he'll be called to the stand.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Hawaii Tribune-Herald (Hilo, HI)
Author: John Burnet
Copyright: Hawaii Tribune-Herald (Hilo, HI)
Contact: jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com
Website: Direct Email
The 56-year-old Harris, a self-described "cannabis minister," is facing charges of first-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and possession of drug paraphernalia. If convicted, she faces 20 years in prison.
In his opening statement, Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville said that officers who entered the driveway of the Sacred Truth Mission in Hawaiian Acres in the early evening of Feb. 15, 2007, found "in plain and open view ... a cultivated marijuana plant."
"Posted on the premises, was a sign detailing a professed belief of the Sacred Truth Mission church that they were mandated to smoke copious quantities of marijuana and grow enormous crops of ganja, which is just another term for marijuana," Damerville told the jury.
Damerville said the evidence will show Harris possessed "more than 100 cultivated marijuana plants" and "more than an ounce of marijuana," as well as "paraphernalia used for cultivating, processing, storing and ingesting a controlled substance, marijuana."
The state's first witness, Officer Peter Fernandez, said he was assigned the duty of photographing the evidence by the lead investigator, former Officer John Weber. Fernandez testified that when he and Weber drove into the driveway, they saw a single marijuana plant near a statue of St. Mary.
Fernandez said Harris was then arrested, and he and others, including a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent, were left behind to "secure the premises" while Weber went back to Hilo to obtain a search warrant. Fernandez said that during the search, officers found marijuana in the house, the garage and a greenhouse.
"When you drove down the driveway, were there (no) trespassing signs?" Damerville asked.
"No," Fernandez replied.
"Was there a gate?"
"No."
Fernandez later testified there was a chain across the driveway, but it was on the ground. He also testified that Weber did not tell him beforehand why they went to the property.
On cross-examination, Harris' lead attorney, Paul Sulla, asked if Fernandez knew why Weber left the police department, and Damerville objected on the grounds that it was "beyond the scope of the direct examination of this witness." His objection was sustained by Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara.
Sulla, who's expected to mount a religious defense for Harris, showed Fernandez and the jury a sign that was posted on the premises that read: "Sacred Truth Mission, Established 2002, Holy Sanctuary, No firearms, poison or hate."
"What did it tell you?" Sulla inquired.
"That it was a church," Fernandez said.
"When you knew you were going to a church, did it raise any suspicions in your mind?"
"No."
"... Did Officer Weber or you carry your sidearms that day?"
"I did."
"But the sign said that it was not allowed. Did you pay any attention to that?"
"No."
In a statement distributed on Facebook before the trial, Harris alleged that Weber and the other officers conducted an illegal search. Weber, who lives on the mainland, is on the prosecution's witness list, but Damerville said he doesn't know yet if he'll be called to the stand.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Hawaii Tribune-Herald (Hilo, HI)
Author: John Burnet
Copyright: Hawaii Tribune-Herald (Hilo, HI)
Contact: jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com
Website: Direct Email
