Pubdate: Wed, 28 May 2014 Source: Oakland Press, The (MI) Copyright: 2014 The Oakland Press Contact: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2114 Author: Charles Crumm MEDICAL MARIJUANA HAS KEEGO MAN IN LIMBO Pete Trzos is in limbo. Nearly 16 months after the medical marijuana dispensary he opened in Holly - with village approval - was promptly raided, the case against him is on hold in Oakland County Circuit Court. Facing multiple felony charges for possession and delivery of marijuana and unable to work because of it, he passes the days, his medical degree unused and useless while awaiting his day in court. Neither he nor his attorneys are exactly sure when that day will come. The case is stalled pending the outcome of appeals of other cases to the Michigan Supreme Court that could affect it. "We don't have any idea," Trzos' attorney David Rudoi said. "It should be before the end of the year. But the Supreme Court is very mysterious." Prosecutions and court cases continue to define Michigan's medical marijuana law, five-and-a-half years after voters overwhelmingly approved it, leaving some in limbo and some with criminal records. The Oakland Press has followed this case since its beginning as part of ongoing scrutiny of Michigan's medical marijuana law, conducting interviews along the way. Some have been willing to participate in the continuing story. Some haven't. HADN'T MADE ENOUGH TO PAY RENT Trzos, now 33, opened the dispensary in late January 2013 with the belief it was allowed by a ballot proposal approved by voters in 2008 that legalized medical marijuana. The business didn't last long. Called Well Greens, a play on the Walgreens drugstore chain name, police raided the business at 15190 North Holly Road shortly after it opened and arrested Trzos. Police reported they recovered 11 ounces of marijuana, $770 and business records. "I hadn't even made enough money to pay my rent," he said in an interview with The Oakland Press a few months after his arrest. The Holly raid was just the beginning. A SECOND RAID Police also raided the Keego Harbor home of his parents, where Pete Trzos was staying. The temperature was in the teens when Phil Trzos, Pete's father, arrived home to find the door of his three-story, 5,000-square-foot lakefront home broken in. Phil Trzos had made the roughly 200-pound solid front door himself and designed it to be sturdy, and said police used a battering device that concentrates force to shatter the door latch enough to get into the house. Trzos said a notice from police who executed the search warrant had been tossed on the floor near the door, listing what had been taken, and that the door was left open. "I don't know how many hours it was open," Phil Trzos said. "My wife and I hand-built the door. It's not replaceable." Phil Trzos said he considers the raid on his home in Keego Harbor to be intimidation since the search warrant could have been served at his nearby heating and cooling business. Oakland County Sheriff's Lt. Brent Miles responded in an April 1, 2014 email: "NET (Narcotics Enforcement Team) investigators knocked on the residence numerous times without a response. Investigators exhausted all efforts before forcing entry into the home. NET investigators learned that the father had a business only after the execution of the search warrant. The dad was not the focus of the investigation." DEEP ROOTS IN KEEGO HARBOR Phil Trzos originally owned just a small lakefront ranch and, over the years, bought land next to it. He remodeled it to make a large, three-level house, doing much of the work himself. The home is within walking distance from the heating and cooling business on Orchard Lake Road started by Phil Trzos' father in 1945 that still bears the senior Trzos' name, Otto A. Trzos Co. Phil Trzos, now 68, still works the business where he employs more than a half-dozen people at any given time, and his wife keeps the books. An avid golfer and bowler, Phil Trzos previously served on the Keego Harbor Planning Commission. News reports at the time of the raid of his home said police seized three pounds of marijuana at the home, $900, eight handguns, vials of anabolic steroids, a pair of brass knuckles and more business records for Well Greens. The Oakland County Sheriff's Office, at the time, didn't mince its words. "This was not a compassionate guy trying to relieve someone's pain. It was a front for an illegal drug operation," Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe was quoted as saying. Additional charges that came weeks later against Pete Trzos included possession with intent to deliver marijuana, possession of metallic knuckles, possession of a controlled substance, and two counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony from the presence of firearms and marijuana at the home. There were no charges against Pete Trzos' parents, but some firearms belonging to his father, Phil Trzos, were confiscated. For the Trzos family, it was time to hire an attorney. MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES They picked Royal Oak attorney David Rudoi and Southfield attorney Michael Komorn. "These judges and prosecutors have been used to marijuana being illegal and something that they've punished people for for so long," Rudoi said months after Pete Trzos' arrest. "It's my belief that it's just difficult for them to change, and they're doing everything in their power to find ways to prosecute anyone engaging in medical marijuana." As president of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, Komorn is an outspoken proponent of medical marijuana. Komorn is blunt in his assessment, calling medical marijuana prosecutions a crusade of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office. "Bill Schuette has caused more challenges to the implementation of the Medical Marihuana Act than anybody," Komorn said. " It's not even based in rational thought. He is literally obsessed with blocking implementation." Komorn's also critical of what he calls a "political" Michigan Court of Appeals, which he says has taken up circuit court decisions evenly favorable and unfavorable to medical marijuana patients and caregivers to "19-0" against them, prompting appeals to the supreme court. Schuette, for his part, has called the ballot proposal approved by voters in 2008 "a sketchy statute." "You saw a sketchy statute, and one that had more holes in it, some say, than Swiss cheese," Schuette said nearly a year ago. His position hadn't changed in a recent interview with The Oakland Press. "The fact is nowhere in that statute were there provisions for dispensaries." The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office says the law is pretty clear. "There has not been any court decision that has shocked us, or should shock anyone," said Paul Walton, the chief assistant prosecutor. "The language is pretty clear. You can provide, not sell. We're not a dispensary state, we're not a pharmaceutical state, we're not a recreational state. "There's a limited exception, it's very limited," Walton said. "If you're outside that realm, it's illegal. Walton says the office doesn't keep exact stats on the number of prosecutions. But, he added, the office never sees the patients and caregivers who are in compliance with the limits of Michigan's medical marijuana law. WAITING FOR TRIAL With lawyers in place, the case against Pete Trzos was assigned to Oakland Circuit Judge Nanci Grant with Assistant Prosecutor Beth Hand representing the prosecutor's office. But weeks turned into months, and months into more than a year as scheduling conflicts, legal strategizing and legal questions pushed back scheduled court dates. As it turns out, a trial for Pete Trzos was, and may remain, a long way off. In the meantime, court cases and legislative actions have continued to further define Michigan's medical marijuana law. West Michigan attorney Bruce Alan Block keeps a list of them. Specifically affecting the case against Pete Trzos are two other Oakland County cases: People vs Tuttle and People vs Hartwick, both in various stages of appeal to higher courts. "They both have stuff to say about medical marijuana's Section 8 defense," Rudoi said. Section 8 provides a defense for medical marijuana caregivers if they exceed the marijuana limits specified in Section 4 of the law. The Michigan Court of Appeals, in particular, has ruled against Section 8 defenses in most cases. "We don't want to have the Section 8 hearings with the standards set forth in Hartwick and Tuttle," Rudoi said. "We believe those cases will be overturned." AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE For Pete Trzos, it all adds up to an uncertain future. "Every time I see a cop, I'm terrified," Trzos said. "I avoid the police and I avoid going out in public. I live in constant fear of these people. I'm fearful of being pulled over for a traffic ticket and being harassed. I prefer to stay in the house for the most part so that can't happen." "I wish I'd never heard of medical marijuana. At the time, I thought police had to follow the law," he said. "It just wrecks your life. I don't understand why I got targeted." Living under conditions of his bond and with felony charges pending, he says he's unable to find work in the medical field. However, he's trying to put his medical credentials to use by working at becoming an expert witness in the legal system. "I have a relevant education," he said. "It's a good career there for someone with my pedigree."