Big Island marijuana advocate Roger Christie, who has spent more than 21⁄2 years in federal custody pending trial on marijuana trafficking, will have to spend at least five more months behind bars.
The jury trial was pushed back to July partly because he was indicted by a federal grand jury last month on additional marijuana and tax charges.
Christie, 63, an icon among marijuana advocates, promoted the religious use of the drug for years on Hawaii island at his The Hawaii Cannabis (THC) Ministry, and has become a symbol for what his supporters say is unfair prosecution and detention because of his views.
"I want to be the first recognized legitimate cannabis ministry in U.S. history," Christie told a federal judge last year during his seventh and last unsuccessful bid to be released on bail.
Christie maintains that marijuana is part of his ministry, but federal prosecutors say he used the religious freedom argument to shield a large-scale marijuana business that catered to as many as 70 customers a day.
Federal judges have agreed with prosecutors that Christie poses a danger if he’s released.
Christie’s court case has become part of the marijuana debate here and nationally, where it has led to voters in Washington and Colorado legalizing personal marijuana use.
In Hawaii, the House Judiciary Committee heard a measure to legalize up to an ounce of pot before the committee tabled the measure, essentially killing it for this session.
But some state senators believe Christie has been treated unfairly. Six senators signed Senate Resolution 12 introduced this month saying Christie’s treatment by federal authorities and his detention are "illegal and unconstitutional."
"I definitely think that under the circumstances that the federal government should take another look at whether or not this is a case worth pursuing and a case worth dedicating federal tax dollars to," Christie’s court-appointed lawyer Thomas Otake told the Star-Advertiser earlier this month.
U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni said this monththe propriety of any criminal case is always a consideration, but said they "expect to pursue the Christie case to its conclusion in the criminal justice system."
She said she cannot disclose the reasons, but in a letter sent to state lawmakers early this month, Nakakuni said a "core priority" of the Justice Department is the prosecution of business enterprises that illegally sell and market marijuana.
Christie’s trial is set for July 23.
By then, Christie will have been in custody for more than three years since his arrest July 8, 2010, triggering the protracted litigation that included the Hawaii island man switching lawyers and numerous postponements of the trial.
The court file shows federal law enforcement tried to infiltrate Christie’s ministry with a federal drug undercover officer; surveillance of Christie’s operation; and federal wiretaps of Christie’s phones that produced voluminous recordings that federal prosecutors cite in opposing his requests for release.
During the two-year investigation, federal and Hawaii County law enforcement seized 2,296 marijuana plants, nine weapons, 33 pounds of processed marijuana and more than $21,000 in cash, law enforcement authorities said.
They described the operation as a large-scale business with customers paying a donation for ministry membership and suggested donations for marijuana.
Christie was among 14 indicted on federal marijuana charges. Among the others was his girlfriend, Sherryanne St. Cyr, 61, who is now his wife.
Christie and St. Cyr were leaders of the ministry, while the 12 others were growers who supplied marijuana, federal prosecutors have said.
Under federal law, marijuana possession is a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail. Marijuana trafficking charges are felonies carrying much stiffer sentences.
Christie was charged with three counts of conspiracy and growing and possessing 284 marijuana plants. Each charge carries a prison term of five to 40 years.
Six defendants have pleaded guilty to felony marijuana conspiracy charges and are awaiting sentencing. The others are scheduled to go on trial with Christie and his wife.
Although the others were released on signature bonds, Christie remained in custody based on the prosecution’s argument that he posed a danger because he continued to run the marijuana operation even after his home and ministry had been raided by federal drug agents four months before his arrest.
Hawaii’s federal judges and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his request for bail seven different times.
During the last hearing in August, Otake described his client as a "peaceful man" who openly operated the ministry on the second floor of a downtown building on one of Hilo’s busiest streets.
But U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi cited Senior U.S. Judge Alan Kay’s 2010 ruling that Christie continued his ministry after the search at his home in March 2010.
"You would think the light would have come on when the first search of his residence was made," Kay said.
Kobayashi followed rulings by Kay, U.S. District Judge David Ezra and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in concluding that no conditions placed on Christie’s release would assure the safety of the community.
On Jan. 17, more than years after Christie was indicted, federal prosecutors obtained a superseding indictment that added four marijuana and two tax charges.
Federal prosecutors had warned Christie and his lawyers that the new charges would be filed unless they reached a plea agreement. The plea negotiations delayed the case for at least a year, prosecutors said.
Christies’s new charges accuse him of maintaining a place of business, his ministry, to grow marijuana and giving marijuana to the undercover agent three different times in 2008.
The tax charges allege he failed to file federal tax returns on his gross income for 2008 and 2009.
The maintaining-a-business charge carries a maximum 20-year term. The three marijuana distribution charges each carry up to five years in prison. The tax counts are each misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail.
In their court papers, federal prosecutors said Christie’s lawyers initiated plea discussions in January 2011. The prosecutors did not disclose the terms of their plea agreement offer, but said both Christie and his wife would have to agree to the deals, which would eliminate the need for the superseding indictment.
Otake would not disclose the terms of the plea agreement other than saying it would have meant Christie would have to spend time in prison in addition to his pretrial custody.
"He believes he’s innocent," Otake said. "In the end, he preferred to go to trial."
Otake and Christie, however, hope there will be no need for a trial.
They have asked Kobayashi to dismiss the charges.
They contend federal law deprives Christie of his constitutional rights to due process by categorizing marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the most highly regulated class of drugs that includes heroin.
In the dismissal request, Otake contended that marijuana doesn’t fall under the Schedule I classification for drugs that have a high potential of abuse, do not have any acceptable medical use and cannot be safely used under medical supervision.
Otake said 18 states, including Hawaii, approve marijuana use for medical reasons. In addition, the American Medical Association has called for a review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug, Otake said.
He also cited a letter by Gov. Neil Abercrombie last year supporting a request that the Drug Enforcement Administration reclassify marijuana as a less-regulated Schedule II drug to allow marijuana to be used for medical reasons.
In opposing the dismissal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawahara said the issue of marijuana’s "negative impact on society" has not been settled.
He said he does not know of any court that has found marijuana’s classification to be unconstitutional, while the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1982 and 2006 rejected constitutional challenges to the classification.
Kawahara also pointed to a ruling last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., that denied a request for a judicial review of the classification.
The prosecutor quoted the appeals court’s ruling that said there is "a serious debate in the United States over the efficacy of marijuana for medicinal purposes."
Kobayashi is scheduled to hear the dismissal request March 4.
Otake said he also plans to ask Kobayashi for permission to raise a defense under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act during the trial. The jury would decide whether the defense applies to Christie.
Otake said his client has a genuine and sincere belief in his Christian-based ministry and in marijuana as a sacrament.
"Rev. Christie believes that cannabis is to his religion as the burning bush was to Moses in the Bible," Otake said in court papers.
Federal prosecutors have made clear in earlier filings that their position is that the ministry was a front for Christie’s marijuana enterprise.
Kawahara quoted from Christie’s ministry website, which said the ministry would help to protect patrons from arrest and prosecution on marijuana charges.
Based on the taped phone calls, Christie offered a "sacrament" of potent marijuana buds at "donation" prices ranging from $50 for an eighth of an ounce to $400 for an ounce, Kawahara said.
Less-potent marijuana stems and leaves went for $20, he said.
The judge will hear arguments on the religious defense in May at the latest, Otake said.
Christie, meanwhile, remains at the Federal Detention Center near Honolulu Airport.
Otake said it’s not unusual for federal defendants charged with distributing pounds of crystal methamphetamine to be released before trial.
"For the life of me, it’s not something I’ll ever understand why Rev. Christie has been denied release so many times," he said.
During his custody, Christie got married at the center and his mother, Doris, died in Colorado. Christie did not seek permission to attend the funeral in view of the federal judges’ rulings denying him release, Otake said.
"Amazingly, his spirits are still high," Otake said.
Christie still wants to be released and still wants to be the first minister to legally dispense marijuana, the lawyer said.
"Rev. Christie is a very spiritual man," Otake said. "He believes everything happens for a reason and he’s excited about the trial coming up this year."
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