Tag Archives: Press Release

Swerdlow vs. Chabot

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My malicious prosecution lawsuit filed against unrepentant drug warrior Paul Chabot is scheduled for Monday, March 25 at the Rancho Cucamonga Superior Courthouse. I know it has been postponed umpteen times before, but I think this time it is really going to happen.

lanny talking about hemp
For those of you unfamiliar with Paul Chabot, he founded the Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition (IVDFCC) and several other drug warrior organizations in pursuit of federal government funding. It seems that even the stark raving reefer money mad federal agencies such as the Office of National Drug Control Policy, DEA, NIDA and so on realize that this guy is so far off the deep end that they finally found a drug warrior that they won’t fund.

Unfortunately, the media, always seeking the most provocative and outlandish statements, seeks this guy out for comments on everything dealing with marijuana from AIDS to Zoning bans. Maybe the media has been taken in by him, but if you want to see just how magnificent Paul Chabot is, go to his website paulchabot.com.

The malicious prosecution lawsuit I filed against Paul Chabot stems from the very first meeting on Oct. 2, 2007 of the IVDFCC where in order to keep me from attending the meeting, Chabot falsely accused me of pushing him so that he could call the cops and have me removed.lanny protest with cheri

Conspiring with the San Bernardino DAs office to take me out so I would stop bringing up to a hundred medical marijuana patients to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meetings where for about two to three hours they were harangued about their costly and ultimately failed lawsuit to have Prop. 215 declared unconstitutional, I was charged with battery.

I underwent a year long ordeal making 16 trips to the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse for various appearances and at a cost of at least $35,000 to the taxpayers of San Bernardino County subjected 12 jurors, two alternates, a judge, a court reporter and two bailiffs to four days of one of the most vindictive and stupidest trials ever.

lanny on air 2After not much more than two hours deliberations, the jury found me not guilty.

As a result of all that I went through, to address Chabot’s misuse of the criminal justice system for his own ends and to let everyone see just how truly unmagnificent Paul Chabot is, I filed a malicious lawsuit against him in 2008. Over the last four  years, there have been interminable and frustrating delays, but now it really looks like the trial is going to happen this Monday, March 25.

I will be acting as my own attorney. I am not going to say this is going to be one helluva show, but if you can make it out to the Rancho Cucamonga court house, I think you will find the proceedings to be extremely engaging, engrossing, stimulating, provocative and spellbinding. I sure wouldn’t mind your court support either.

The lawsuit will be heard on Monday, March 25 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Dept. R8C at thelanny1 Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse at 8303 N. Haven Ave. in Rancho Cucamonga 91730. Parking can be a problem at this courthouse, so some circling may be necessary but there are sufficient free parking lots in the area that you should be able to find a spot.

From Lanny Swerdlow

Medical Marijuana Patient Daisy Bram to be Arraigned Feb 20 in Tehama County

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                              FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

            Cynthia Johnston:  303-345-3259

 Medical Marijuana Patient Daisy Bram to be Arraigned Feb 20 in Tehama County

 “Free My Babies!” Pleads Daisy Bram as She Loses Children to Foster Care System a Second Time 

Tuesday, February 19, 2013.  “Oh, my God! My baby! My baby! My baby!,” howled Daisy Bram, 30, as her children were removed by Butte County child welfare officials in a September 29, 2011 raid on the rural Concow, CA home Daisy Bram shared with her partner, medical marijuana cultivator Jayme Walsh.

In California, consumption, possession, and cultivation of marijuana are legal with the medical documentation that Bram and Walsh possess regarding their pain management and mental health conditions, respectively. Despite their medical marijuana patient status, both Bram and Walsh have been charged with felony marijuana possession and possession with intent to sell for the 38-plant medical cannabis garden found at their Butte County home. Child endangerment and child abuse charges stemmed from the marijuana found in the home with children present, as well as Daisy’s consumption of cannabis while breastfeeding.

 On the 2011 police raid audiotape, the distraught mother wailed: “They took my baby! How is he going to eat? He’s only three weeks old!” Daisy Bram’s breastfeeding baby was 28 days old at the time. Daisy’s newborn and his 18-month-old brother Thor spent six months in foster care before she regained custody. She missed Thor’s first haircut and her children were medicated against her will. Shortly after the birth of their third child in late 2012, the family moved out of Butte County to Red Bluff, CA.

In a tragic repeat of the first police raid, on January 22, 2013, Tehama County officials arrested Bram and Walsh and placed two-year-old Thor, 16-month-old Zeus, and 3-month-old Invictus in foster care. As a result of the new raid in a new county, Daisy faces additional criminal charges for marijuana and has lost her children to the state for a second time. Upon her release, Bram pointed out that officials scheduled their raid for the day before a court hearing about the terms of her release for the Butte County medical marijuana case.

On February 20, 2013, Daisy Bram will be arraigned on criminal charges for the 53-plant marijuana garden reportedly found by investigator Eric Clay in the January 2013 raid. Daisy has been without her children as well as any means of transportation since January 29, 2013, when officers seized her 2002 Ford Explorer in the parking lot as she arrived for a family court appearance, alleging that the vehicle was purchased with drug money.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Women’s Alliance has publicly supported Daisy in the media as well as the courts. The NORML Women’s Alliance of Butte County filed a lawsuit on March 9, 2012 demanding a Grand Jury investigation into Butte County’s child welfare practices last year. Los Angeles NORML Women’s Alliance community leader Cheri Sicard has declared, “We are extremely concerned when the state uses a mother’s legal status as patient against her in order to rip the children out of her arms and place them in foster care. That is simply not acceptable.”

According to Daisy, “The state should not be able to enter anyone’s home, abduct the family, severely traumatize the young children, and do so with public tax dollars.” She continues, “It defies logic if you think of a mother consuming cannabis and breast-feeding facing a child abuse charge.” Joe Grumbine of medical cannabis court support organization The Human Solution (www.the-human-solution) is concerned that “Butte County and now Tehama County seem determined to not only vilify this young mother of three because of her medical use of cannabis, but seem bent on stripping her children from her for good” by placing them up for adoption. Daisy told The Human Solution, “My children were healthy and happy before they were grabbed from my arms. Now they are bruised, scratched and not clothed appropriately. My son has a black eye and another has a chipped tooth…I need to get my babies back.”

Author and cannabis cultivation expert Ed Rosenthal continues to fundraise on Daisy Bram’s behalf via his Green Aid legal defense fund (www.green-aid.com). Criminal defense attorney Michael Levinsohn is representing Daisy Bram pro bono in both Butte County and Tehama County, but funds are required to hire expert witnesses as well as cover potential bail costs. According to Ed Rosenthal, Daisy “is devastated by the loss [of her children] and fully cooperating with Child Protective Services in an effort to have the children placed back in her custody.” Daisy no longer uses cannabis and is legally separated from Jayme Walsh, who also faces marijuana charges in both Butte and Tehama counties.

Iconic freedom fighter Daisy “FreeMyBabies” Bram has requested court support at her Wednesday, February 20, 2013 criminal arraignment on ten charges including cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and child abuse. The arraignment is scheduled for 8:05 AM at the Tehama County Courthouse, 633 Washington St., Red Bluff, CA 96080. Daisy is in jeopardy of being remanded into custody at the February 20th arraignment and her attorney says bail, if granted, could be as high as $100,000.

Donations are accepted via www.green-aid.com and more information about court support can be obtained from Joe Grumbine of The Human Solution (951-436-6312).

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KEEPING SCORE: THE JOE BYRON/JOE GRUMBINE TRIAL SO FAR

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December 5, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Joe Grumbine
951-436-6312
KEEPING SCORE: THE JOE BYRON/JOE GRUMBINE TRAIL SO FAR
For the folks at home keeping score, the Joe Byron/Joe Grumbine medical marijuana trial currently taking place in Long Beach Superior Court has already cranked out some stunning numbers. Keep in mind that all of this is in response to selling a healing plant to patients qualified to use it.

• There have been 28 court appearances so far, with at least another 20 days expected.
• According to Superior Court Judge Charles D. Sheldon, it takes between $10,000 and $15,000 a day to run his courtroom. That gives this trial an estimate of $480,000 to $720,000 for the courtroom alone.
• 4 Judges have had a hand in the case thus far.
• 50 officers took part in the investigation of this case.
• 120 officers took part in the raids, many of them pulled from other units.
• There’s an average of 5 bailiffs in the courtroom at all times.
• A court clerk and court reporter are on duty at all times.

On a typical day (we kept score on 12-5-11) the defense had 44 defense objections over-ruled; 1 objection sustained; while all 7 of the prosecution’s objections were sustained.

This case will last longer than most violent crime cases including murder. It will be longer than Michael Jackson’s doctor’s case or the Casey Anthony case, and possibly even longer than the OJ case.

Just to reiterate, this is all over the charge of selling a plant to qualified patients.

Those wishing to participate in court support, the protest rallies, or donate to Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron’s legal defense funds can do so through The Human Solution, a nonprofit cannabis education and advocacy group founded by Grumbine. Visit their website (www.the-human-solution.org) or phone 951-436-6312 for additional details.

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Grumbine/Byron Get Their Day in Court

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www.the-human-solution.org
November29, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Joe Grumbine
951-436-6312

LONG BEACH, CA – After enduring a traumatic legal ordeal that has dragged on for over 2 years, Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron are finally getting their day in court, as a jury was seated in the Long Beach medical marijuana case on Tuesday.

The case has had more twists and turns than a mountain road, including Judge Charles D. Sheldon disallowing a medical defense for defendants, despite the fact they operated two legal medical marijuana collectives. The 2nd district court of appeals subsequently ordered Sheldon to reverse that decision.

Through the more than 20 hearings leading up to the trial, supporters and medical marijuana activists have staged protest rallies objecting to the injustice of prosecuting medical marijuana patients and providers as well as the state’s waste of funds doing so.

Helicopters, drug sniffing dogs, and 120 armed SWAT officers took part in the raid on Grumbine and Byron’s properties, despite the fact that Grumbine went through a similar trial and was found to be in complete compliance with California’s medical marijuana laws just 5 weeks earlier.

Supporters estimate the state has spent well over a million dollars on this medical marijuana case, at a time of serious budget cuts.

“Does the state really have nothing better to spend their resources on than prosecuting medical marijuana cases,” asks supporter Kathleen Zamanjahromie.

Zamanjahromie and other supporters have vowed to stand by Grumbine and Byron during the lengthy trial and continue the protests outside the courthouse each day of the trial. They remain confident of the defendants’ acquittal, now that the court of appeals has ruled that the jury will be allowed to hear the truth that this a medical marijuana case.

“We know a jury will see that we operated a legitimate not-for-profit collective that helped sick patients and provided valuable services to the community including a food bank, clothing drives, and free wheelchairs for patients in need,” says Grumbine.

Those wishing to participate in court support, the protest rallies, or donate to Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron’s legal defense funds can do so through The Human Solution, a nonprofit cannabis education and advocacy group founded by Grumbine. Visit their website (www.the-human-solution.org) or phone 951-436-6312 for additional details.
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High Court Orders Judge Sheldon to Reverse Decision

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www.the-human-solution.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Joe Grumbine
951-436-6312

LONG BEACH, CA – On November 23, 2011, the California Appellate Court (2nd Appellate District) ordered Long Beach Superior Court Judge Charles D. Sheldon to reverse his ruling denying two medical marijuana defendants the ability to present a medical defense against the 13 felony counts facing them.

Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron, the former operators of two legal medical cannabis collectives in Long Beach and Garden Grove have been embroiled in a legal battle that has been dragging on for nearly 2 years, stemming from a December 2009 raid involving 120 armed SWAT officers, helicopters, and drug sniffing dogs. Ironically a Riverside judge found Grumbine to be in complete compliance with California’s medical marijuana laws just 5 weeks before the raid took place.

The two were confident they did nothing wrong, and consequently refused all plea offers the prosecution tried to convince them to take. “We knew a jury would see that we operated a legitimate not-for-profit collective that helped sick patients and provided valuable services to the community including a food bank, clothing drives, and free wheelchairs for patients in need,” says Grumbine.

But then Judge Charles Sheldon ruled that the jury would not be allowed to hear a word about medical marijuana, meaning the defendants would be presented in court as ordinary back alley drug pushers and not compassionate medical marijuana providers. Prospects looked bleak for the Joes.

That’s when defense attorney Allison Margolin stepped in, filing a writ appealing Sheldon’s outrageous decision with the court of appeals. In an unusual move, the appeals court wasted no time and returned a ruling just in time for the defendants to have a Happy Thanksgiving: Grumbine and Byron will be allowed a medical defense, unless Judge Sheldon opts to go before the court to explain himself and his ruling.

The defendants return to court on Monday for the start of jury selection with a trial expected to last approximately three weeks beginning immediately after. Supporters are planning to be at Grumbine and Byron’s sides in the courtroom, as they have during the twenty-plus court hearings the pair has already attended.

Those wishing to participate in court support, or donate to Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron’s legal defense funds can do so at The Human Solution’s website (www.the-human-solution.org) or phone 951-436-6312 for additional details.

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