COLORADO HIV Patient goes to Trial on Monday
Colorado: Adams County district attorney chooses to prosecute ill medical marijuana patient
Since our last alert regarding the arrest of medical marijuana patient Jack Branson, the Adams County district attorney's office has decided to go ahead with the trial, currently scheduled to begin Monday, August 27.
Besides being a waste of taxpayer money, as well as law enforcement and judicial resources, this trial is yet another example of just how callous our marijuana policies can be. The fact that a very sick man's troubles have now been compounded with the possibility of imprisonment is absurd. Branson faces felony charges for growing medical marijuana, and, if sent to prison, he could die without access to his medicine.
Branson uses medical marijuana to treat the nausea and loss of appetite arising from his treatment for HIV. Although Branson's doctor verbally recommended medical marijuana to Branson, she did not want to put her recommendation into writing because she feared losing her job at Colorado University, a federally-funded facility. Branson has since obtained a written medical recommendation for the use of medical marijuana. However, because his first doctor is on another continent, he may not be able to obtain her testimony. You can read more about the case here.
Please come out to the courthouse in Brighton, Colorado, on Monday, August 27, to show your support for Jack Branson.
Supporters will be meeting at the main entrance to the Adams County Justice Center at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning. The address is 1100 Judicial Center Drive, Brighton, CO 80601. Click here for directions.
When you arrive, look for Sensible Colorado's Executive Director Brian Vicente, who is helping to organize support for Branson. Please dress appropriately and be respectful to courthouse personnel at all times.
Even if you cannot make it to the trial on Monday, there are several other ways you can help:
1. Contact Adams County District Attorney Don Quick and ask him to dismiss the case. Let Mr. Quick know that, even though a conviction is technically possible, justice is not served by sending this sick man to jail. You can call Mr. Quick at (303) 659-7720 or fax him at (303) 835-5522. Don Quick is a decent and well-respected man, so please be polite when speaking with him or his staff. If you prefer to mail a letter, please do so right away, as the trial is Monday. The mailing address is: Don Quick, District Attorney, 1000 Judicial Center Drive, Suite 100, Brighton, CO 80601. (You may want to use an overnight carrier.)
2. Call in to any local talk or news radio stations in your area (especially if you are in Adams County or the greater Denver area) to express your support for Jack Branson and call for the dismissal of all charges against him.
3. Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper supporting Branson, medical marijuana, and common sense. While we have provided you with talking points to get you started, please be sure to change things around and include your own thoughts — newspapers will not print something that is obviously not your own.
If you take action and do any or all of the above, please e-mail MPP Legislative Analyst Nathan Miller at nmiller@mpp.org so that we can monitor developments in the case.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this alert on to your friends and family in Colorado as soon as you can, so that they may also learn about this story and take action as well.
Colorado MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER FOUND GUILTY
"I Saw a Child Abuser Last Week Get Convicted of the Same Class of Felony As My Son. ... How Is This Possible?"
Brighton - A man who hoped Colorado's medical-marijuana law would allow him to use pot to soothe his disease-ravaged body is now a felon.
That doesn't sit well with his mother, who seethed outside of an Adams County District courtroom after jurors Wednesday convicted her son - 39-year-old Jack Branson - of cultivation of marijuana, a felony.
"I saw a child abuser last week get convicted of the same class of felony as my son, and that child abuser is a danger to this community," said Margaret Branson, who watched her son hobble down a hallway using a cane.
"You tell me," she said, "how is this possible?"
But the nine-woman, three-man panel also cleared her son of a second felony charge of possession of more than 8 ounces of marijuana.
The decision to acquit on one marijuana charge and convict on another was "irrational," said Branson's attorney, Robert Corry. He asked Adams County District Judge Thomas Ensor to overturn the guilty verdict.
Ensor refused and sentenced Branson to one year of unsupervised probation. He faced six years in prison.
The verdict will be appealed, said Corry, adding jurors seemingly reached a puzzling compromise.
"The charges against him were all or nothing," Corry said. "This makes no sense."
Jurors couldn't be reached for comment.
Corry argued that Branson - who suffers from AIDS and hepatitis B - received oral recommendations from doctors over the past several years to use medicinal marijuana. The drug eases his nausea and allows him to take his medications and to eat, Corry said.
However, Branson never received a written recommendation.
Police in October 2004 arrested Branson after finding 14 8-foot-tall pot plants, a scale and several bags of dried marijuana at his Thornton home.
Prosecutor Trevor Moritzky told jurors Branson had in his possession far more pot than allowed under the state's medical-marijuana law - which generally stipulates one can have three flowering plants, three replacement plants and 2 ounces of the drug.
"This was a production facility," Moritzky said. "He had far more than he needed."
Adams County District Attorney Don Quick said he never wanted Branson to serve any prison time. "We have no problem with anyone using medical marijuana under the law," Quick said. "We just want to see it applied correctly."
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moderator of the North Denver Medical Marijuana Discussion Group(http://medmarijuana.meetup.com/119)
Legal or not
Did this person have written approval through the state or his doctor ? I feel I payed for this program legally and follow all the rules the state sets forth and our state amendment is written so the patients benefits from it and we the patients,caregivers and providers should not abuse this privilege. Be safe & peaceout
If taken UPON APPEAL, will justice prevail................maybe?
FYI- This individual was actually 'grandfathered in' with constitutional protection when Colorado Constitutional Amendment 20 became law in 2000, as his doctor diagnosed him with a debilitating terminal illness. she had also written in her notes, that he should stay on eating cannabis, because it was working. This made him COMPLETELY able to receive the positive affirmative defense, sorry. Registering with the state is an afterthought, confirmed by judge(s) interpretations(Fort Collins and Adams County to be exact).
Because the numerous doctors who worked at federally funded hospital HIV clinic did not wish to actually sign his recommendation............for years, it wasn't an easy task to "Register with the State". As you may be aware, at the time, there were no clinics ongoing providing sympathetic doctors. Being indigent AND TERMINALLY ILL calls for a little compassion and understanding. Wish you would have made it to the courthouse one day, for support, and too hear the legal arguments in question. It was of historical significance.
I have been personally told by Jack Branson that it was my efforts, as the court certified cannabis expert, which brought clarity to the jury to acquit him of the charges of eight ounces or more (when his total weight according to CBI Colorado Bureau of Investigation was 26.8 lbs.) with acceptance of the positive affirmative defense medical necessity clause. I don't know if that is the case, however, considerable efforts were undertaken by myself, Dr. Shawn Glazer, and Dr.Robert Melamede, to orientate the jury on the complexity of cannabis therapy necessary for a terminal HIV patient. Jack Branson was literally starving to death, according to a physician's court testimony, when he was first seen for a mmj recommendation, some three months after the encounter with law enforcement. He has remained a legal patient ever since, for three years.
As for the guilty of cultivation charge, this was a clear mis-use of the interpretation of the Colorado Constitutional Amendment 20 portion which pertains to OPEN USE. HOWEVER, Assistant District Attorney Trevor Morinsky mis-applied the term "USE" for the word "VIEW" and indicated ERRONEOUSLY to the jury, and the judge accepted, that if the outdoor grow was in open view, then it was not to be eligible for the positive affirmative defense of medical marijuana.
The nature of the "OPEN USE" clause appropriately pertains to the possible public use of marijuana in a location, such as the 16th Street Mall in Denver, and NOT as pertaining to a legal medical marijuana grow. This philosophy puts in jeopardy ANY & ALL outdoor medical marijuana grows throughout the state.
I find it quite disturbing that jurors following the trial reported that the perceived 30 foot drop from Thornton Parkway view to Jack Branson's garden below, was only visible if the party leaned over the railing and looked straight down. It is unreasonable, and unconceivable that jurors reported that "Jack should have done something, canopy or such to keep from plain and open view" speaks to a misapplication of the law.
I also find it disturbing that Judge Ensor did NOT include in jury instructions the cavaet that, if Jack Branson is found to be eligible for the affirmative defense of medical marijuana for one charge, that he MUST be eligible for the same defense with the second charge. It only seems fair and consistent, doesn't it?
Irrespective of the fact that Morisky was admonished by the Judge for bringing up possible "Teenage kids who might come along and steal the marijuana to go and smoke it", was inappropriate, but also believed to have left an indelible negative impression in jurors time, just before they went to "The Box" to deliberate.
So a short breath before consideration of an appeal to the decision. This might bring about the necessary clarity of more ambiguous elements of our important constitutional law. SURE, I regularly lecture on the importance of registering with the state, however, past actions dictate caution. Fear of our government is real, whether you want to believe in it or not, am I not right?
SO, the next question is.........since he was acquited on eight ounces or more due to medical marijuana, WHEN does he get his medicine back? This speaks to the importance of regular court support by legal medical marijuana patients, definitely.
My only hope is that Jack Branson will see the day when he is acquited appropriately of both charges. He has outlived his doctors estimates by years and years, however, the ticking time of good health for a terminally ill man may just hinge on a simple plant?
---Timothy Tipton
moderator of the North Denver Medical Marijuana Discussion Group(http://medmarijuana.meetup.com/119)
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