Pubdate: Thu, 04 Aug 2005
Source: Advocate, The (LA)
Copyright: 2005 The Advocate, Capital City Press
Contact: http://www.2theadvocate.com/help/letter2editor.shtml
Website: http://www.theadvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2
Author: William Taylor, Advocate staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Chris+Conrad (Chris Conrad)

HIGH-RANKED POT EXPERT BRINGS KNOWLEDGE TO BR

The Internet is full of stories about unusual careers. You can read about 
those with so-called weird jobs such as a certified fire walking 
instructor, a magician's assistant and the person who takes care of the 
elephants' toenails for the circus.

I didn't need to go online to meet this one: an expert in marijuana 
cultivation.

At the end of July, Chris Conrad of El Cerrito, Calif., brought his 
expertise and a backpack of notes to U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge.

Conrad has written books, founded organizations and designed a museum in 
efforts to promote the legalization of marijuana for medical and other uses.

His Internet site -- http://www.chrisconrad.com -- lists his 
accomplishments: exploits that got him ranked 10th in 1999 on High Times 
magazine's top 25 "living legends of pot" behind honorees such as Tommy 
Chong, Willie Nelson and Woody Harrelson.

In Baton Rouge, he was expected to testify on behalf of Juan Lopez, a 
Prairieville man accused of growing bundles of pot with plans to sell it in 
Louisiana and Florida.

Lopez, 47, 39136 Germany Road, faced up to 20 years in prison if 
prosecutors could prove he either grew the marijuana or possessed it with 
the intent to distribute.

The potential penalty would escalate to 5 to 40 years in prison if 
prosecutors could prove Lopez had more than 100 plants.

Conrad, 52, offered a favorable plant count and could supposedly bolster 
defense attorney Mario Gaudamud's contention that Lopez's harvest was 
consistent with personal, rather than commercial, use.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chad Ennis and Robert Piedrahita spent the first 
day of trial bringing evidence of what investigators have described as the 
most-elaborate indoor marijuana garden they had ever seen in the area.

The hydroponics operation had special lamps and reflective walls to bathe 
the plants in intense light. Piping brought water and nutrients to the soil.

Carbon dioxide was added to the air to stimulate growth. A filter of moth 
balls would clean the odor before it escaped the house, they explained.

Day two of the trial brought Gaudamud's turn to call witnesses, and Conrad 
took the stand wearing a suit and his gray hair tied in a ponytail.

Piedrahita cross-examined Conrad about his expertise to determine whether 
it included illegal cultivation and distribution as well as legal 
cultivation in places such as Holland and Switzerland.

Conrad explained that he reviewed police reports, interviewed both 
investigators and defendants, listened to trial testimony and witnessed 
many illegal sales up close.

With Conrad's credentials established, Gaudamud went for the question the 
witness was being paid about $2,000 by the government-funded defense to 
answer: Was Lopez's marijuana crop consistent with personal use?

Conrad's surprise answer: no.

Just the flowers of the plants -- the most-valuable and narcotic portion -- 
would amount to a crop of 18 pounds, Conrad estimated. The garden could 
produce close to four crops a year, he added.

"I would classify that as being more than most individuals could consume," 
he said.

A U.S. marijuana smoker might use 3 pounds a year, Conrad explained.

Prosecution witnesses said at half a gram a cigarette, a pound a year was 
more realistic.

They added the entire plant is ground up for a cigarette, not just the 
flower, meaning one of Lopez's crops could produce more than 100 pounds of 
smokes.

Conrad conceded that he had provided Gaudamud a different harvest estimate 
prior to trial -- maybe 6 to 8 pounds -- but the witness later discovered a 
miscalculation.

Jurors found Lopez guilty and accepted the videotaped count of 103 plants 
by investigators, instead of Conrad's total of 91.

While Lopez remains jailed while waiting sentencing, Conrad has returned to 
California with a new experience for his resume. In addition to having been 
qualified as an expert witness in several California courts and one in 
Oklahoma, Conrad can say he's filled such a role in Louisiana as well.

Just don't ask Lopez how it went.

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Advocate staff writer William Taylor covers federal court.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom