Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 1998
Source: Hawai'i Tribune Herald
Author: Crystal Kua
Contact:  Kinoole Street in Hilo, Hawaii
Phone: (808) 935-6621

NO RETRIAL FOR BIG ISLE MARIJUANA ADVOCATE

Judge Dismisses Drug Charge Against Aaron Anderson

Hemp advocate Aaron Anderson walked out of a Hilo courtroom Wednesday with
one less thing on his mind-a felony drug charge.

Citing the outcome of Anderson's trial last year, budgetary constraints and
other reasons, Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura dismissed a 6-year-old
indictment charging Anderson with commercial promotion of marijuana, a
class B felony with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

"I don't know how to react," Anderson said outside the courtroom
immediately after the ruling.  "I never got to this point before."

The charge was the result of a 25 pound shipment of hemp seeds Anderson
ordered from a mainland company in May 1991.

A police dog sniffed out the package after it arrived in Hilo via Federal
Express.

Anderson has maintained that the seeds he ordered were sterile hemp seeds
which he was going to use for food products.

But police said marijuana plants sprouted when they grew the seeds.

During Anderson's trial last year, the prosecution argued that it didn't
matter whether the seeds were sterile because the seeds fit within the
definition of marijuana.

But the defense argued that there wasn't enough evidence to prove the seeds
were indeed marijuana.

The judge declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked at 9 to 3 in favor of
acquittal.

Anderson had been scheduled for retrial on Setpember 14th, but the defense
sought to have the charge dismissed.

In his ruling, Nakamura noted the history of the case with Anderson being
charged since April 1992.

During that time, Anderson has had three different lawyers and the case
went up on appeal before being remanded to the Circuit Court for further
proceedings.

Nakamura said the charge against Anderson was a serious one and that
Anderson should have been convicted of the charge based on the evidence.

But Nakamura found that Anderson did not intend to grow marijuana plants
and the seeds did not contain the active substance commonly referred to as
THC.

Nakamura also said that law enforcement officials have not prosecuted some
Hilo merchants who sell bird seeds containing hemp.

Nakamura's ruling also focused on the poutcome of the trial.

He said the defense was successful in finding defets in the prosecutions case.

But he said he believed the prosecution could have addressed the problems
it had with its case in the first trial.

Nakamura, however, said that pursuing a second trial at this time would not
be a good idea given the "significant budgetary problems" faced by the
Judiciary, the Prosecutor's office and the state government.

He also noted that the Circuit Court trial calendar in Hilo is filled with
major felony cases over the next year including an 8-week murder trial in
his curtroom in April as well as the three Dana Ireland trials and a series
of trials for defendant Christopher Wilmer.

"We believe the judge did the right thing based on the law and the facts of
this case," court-appointed defense lawyer Brian DeLima said after the
hearing.

DeLima said that he beieves the prosecution would still have problems if
Anderson was retried.

"They would have an insurmountable task," he said.

"I have concerns that defendants can drag a case through the system and
then complain that the case is taking too long," Deputy Prosecutor Kay Iopa
said.

Iopa, who is also the prosecutor handling the Wilmer cases, said her office
and the courts are currently coping with budget constraints mentioned by
the judge.

Iopa said her office handled this case like any other case that is referred
for prosecution.  She also said the office would pursue criminal
prosecution in the future for similar cases if the facts and the law
warrant it.

"It's on a case-by-case basis," she said.

Anderson said the criminal charge has been a cloud hanging over him for
several years, so the judge's ruling lifted a heavy burden.

"Now I'm getting ready for our federal trial in July," Anderson said. "We
intend to prevail also."

Anderson and former co-defendant Roger Christie have filed a $3 million
dollar federal lawsuit against the county stemming from their prosecution
in the hemp seed case.

Christie, who had his charge dismissed by the prosecution, and Anderson
allege that they were targeted in this case because of their outspoken
pro-marijuana views.