On the morning of September 15th, 2006, at around 9:30am, I awoke to a uniformed City police officer (we'll call him Barney and btw, we don't live in his city, we live in the County) standing over my bed asking me if I was wearing any clothes. I said I was and sat up in the bed. He asked me if I knew why he was there, and I nodded my head. He read me my rights at this point.

I followed the officer into my living room where my fiance, Bruce, was sitting, handcuffed behind his back. There was a Sheriff's officer (we'll call him Andy) in plain clothes sitting on my couch, questioning Bruce.

While Andy continued to question Bruce, I struck up a conversation with Barney. We talked about gardening. At one point he asked me, "Haven't you heard the helicopters?" I replied that the most air traffic we get around our place is the local crop duster.

Anyway, I found out from Andy that there was an "Anonymous Tip" that brought the officers to my home that day. The issue there is that we live out in the frickin' country where people don't rat on their neighbors unless someone is actually screaming, and even then maybe not. And none of our garden is visible from a county road. It's only visible from the private road we live on, "Bird Hog Road." So how did these officers get inside my house?

That's easy....Bruce opened the door and invited them in. Told them they could go wandering through the garden....you know, whatever they wanted to do. I had no idea what to do, but I knew that a warrant was necessary. I've seen cop shows on TV. But I'm not a criminal, nor do I think like one. Andy presented a "consent to search" form, which I signed after he told me that he would just go get one from a judge and come right back. I DID NOT WANT TO SIGN THIS FORM!!!

But, not knowing what to do, and being coaxed by Bruce and Andy, I signed the form. The house is mine. The land is my Mom's. Shouldn't SHE have to sign the search form for the garden? Just wondering Anyway, they pulled plants up and bagged it all up and left. No arrests.

We did not inform the officers of our religion at this time. We used cannabis for spiritual and medical reasons for years, but we hadn't sought out any others who knew of the religious aspects. We truly felt like we were on the wrong planet. And it wasn't until after all this happened that we could actually put a name on what we had been doing all along. Cannabis Sacrament.

Here's something interesting.....They took Bruce's guns...then gave the long guns back a week later. No word on the pistol. And still no arrests. Andy told us he would call us and let us know what was going on. You see, I had a wedding to plan....ours. October 14th. I think this is why Andy didn't take us to jail.

We contacted Reverend Roger to inform him of our situation. I really should have followed his advice and filed a civil suit right away. I'm still kicking myself for not doing that, but it was easier to stick my head in the sand and focus on my storybook wedding. I've waited for this wedding MY WHOLE LIFE though, so it's hard for me to feel wrong for wanting to enjoy it. 

So we got married, went on our honeymoon. We rented an RV and travelled around the Smokey Mountains, visiting Cherokee, Cades Cove, Oconaluftee, etc. Andy called us when we were on our honeymoon and told us how the grand jury charged us. Also that the handgun should be considered forfeited and destroyed, and that Bruce can't ever possess a handgun again. 

Count 1 (Class A Felony)

did, knowingly sell, manufacture, deliver, bring into this state, actually possess, or constructively possess, in excess of one kilo or 2.2 pounds of marijuana, in violation of 13A-12-231(1) of the Code of Alabama,

Count 2 (Class A Misdemeanor)

did, unlawfully possess marijuana for personal use only, in violation of 13A-12-214 of the Code of Alabama,

Count 3 (Class A Misdemeanor)

did, knowingy and unlawfully use or possess with the intent to use, paraphernalia, to-wit: a bong and/or pipe, used to inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled substance, or to process, prepare, pack, repack, store, contain or conceal a controlled substance, in violation of 13A-12-260(c) of the Code of Alabama,

against the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama.

Our bonds were set at $25,000 each instead of the routine $1,000,000 for trafficking.

Okay, so there are the indictments. Andy told us that we needed to turn ourselves in no later that December 13th. He also told us that it was better to arrive around 8pm, in order to avoid prolonged waiting. So far, with the exception of the whole "ripping our plants out of the ground and processing the legal stuff even though we aren't criminals," Andy has been a stand-up guy.

As soon as we got back from our honeymoon, I studied hard for my nursing license exam which was coming up fast. Did I mention that I had just graduated nursing school in July, after attending classes all over the world for 20 YEARS? I passed my test and got my nursing license!!

After that, we started hunting for lawyers. We visited the NORML attorneys for our area and they wanted $25,000 each to represent us. So we interviewed others and the money was about the same. We picked based on a friend's recommendation and fees. $3000 each. We honestly didn't even have that, but hey, we're not lawyers and we didn't think we were qualified to run our own defense, so we started making payments. FYI, we were told by Bruce's lawyer Pete thatwe had to have separate lawyers, which I found out later is not true.

Of course, when we were interviewing, the number one question was, "Which judges courtroom are you in?" We said we didn't know, and every single lawyer we interviewed said that we better hope we don't get Judge Exeffbeeye because he's the meanest, harshest "drug judge" around. Boy were we relieved to find out later that we were assigned to Judge Cane. He's the chief judge for the county.

We were able to have the electronic monitoring requirement removed, used my Mom's land and home for my bond, signed a cash bond for Bruce and started making payments for that as well.

Whoever was processing my bond put it into the computer as $1,000,000. When the local reporter who scans this saw that Bruce and I had the same address but my bond was much higher, he knew he had to go check out "the big drug ring" in his territory. He found our ministry website and called us "Marijuana Ministers" in his report. The day after we turned ourselves in, the reporter showed up at our home. And that very night we were the top story on Fox Evening News. (weak, but a good first time on camera for us nonetheless)

Fast-forward through Christmas and New Year's and our arraignment is set for February 16, 2007. Our lawyers, Pete and Repeat, advised us to choose our pleas, sign the waiver of arraignment, and we wouldn't need to go to court. (Oops, I didn't know any better!) We signed the forms and stayed home that day.

This whole time, I've been researching the religious defense, not ever realizing that there were better strategies that the lawyers weren't telling us about.

From the Alacourt.com case action summaries that were printed on 5/31/07.....

2/20/07 - Set for jury trial 8/20/07
               Pretrial docket hearing 4/26/07

2/21/07 - (Both) Waivers of arraignment filed
               (Both) Scheduling/discovery order

3/19/07 - (Both) Notice of discovery filed by DA
              (Bruce) Notice of intent to offer proof by certificate of analysis filed by DA

3/19/07 - (Brenda) Notice of intent to offer proof by certificate of analysis filed by DA

3/27/07 - (Bruce) Objection to notice of intent to offer cert. of analysis in lieu of testimony filed

4/24/07 - (Brenda) Motion and brief to dismiss for violation of RFRA, Alabama's RFRA and RLUIPA filed

4/26/07 - (Both) Motion to suppress filed and set for 5/31/07
               (Both) Motion to dismiss filed

5/22/07 - (Brenda) Brief in support of objection to state's intent to offer proof by cert. of analysis filed and set for 5/31/07

5/23/07 - (Bruce) Brief in support of objection to state's intent to offer proof by cert. of analysis filed
                 (Bruce) Motion and brief to dismiss for violation of RFRA, Alabama's RFRA, and RLUIPA filed

As of May 31, 2007, we still haven't seen the inside of a courtroom. On said date, we were to have a motion hearing for the certificate of analysis business.

We arrived at the courthouse, and the first thing that happened was Bruce's lawyer handed him a motion to withdraw due to "not fufilling his financial responsibilities." Ambushed is what I call it. We scurried around and borrowed from Bruce's brother and made peace. The objection to the certificate of analysis was denied.

More Later....