Pubdate: Sat, 19 May 2012 Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO) Copyright: 2012 The Gazette Contact: http://www.gazette.com/sections/opinion/submitletter/ Website: http://www.gazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/165 Author: Lance Benzel MARIJUANA CASES HEADED TO TRIAL, EVEN AS OTHER TAKE PLEAS One is a cancer patient and former restaurateur who says he believes that oil derived from marijuana holds the cure to his leukemia. The other - a Colorado Springs woman who left a corporate job to join the state's booming medical marijuana trade, only to be swept up in a 2010 raid on growers who shared a local warehouse. In June, Robert Crouse and Elisa J. Kappelmann - defendants in two of El Paso County's most closely watched marijuana prosecutions - are headed for jury trials at a time when many similar cases quietly end in plea agreements. Kappelmann, 52, is due for a June 4 trial. Crouse, 63, is to be tried June 25. The cases, which are otherwise unrelated, have attracted notice from medical marijuana advocates who staged demonstrations and packed the 4th Judicial District courthouse hallways during their court appearances. According to court records, the District Attorney's Office contends that Crouse and Kappelmann were operating marijuana nurseries without proper licensing, charges both deny. Crouse was arrested in May 2011 after police seized 6 pounds of marijuana and more than 50 plants from his home on North Weber Street. Crouse is charged with two drug felonies, including possession with intent to distribute. According to an arrest affidavit, Crouse told authorities he was part-owner in a recently opened dispensary called God's Own Garden. Crouse said he wasn't involved in day-to-day operations but told police that he occasionally supplied a business partner with marijuana that Crouse grew at home, the affidavit said. Crouse had invested $7,000 in the venture, court records said. Police say Crouse was also trying to produce marijuana-infused barbecue sauce, modifying the same barbecue recipe he used at Yakibob's, the Colorado Springs restaurant he owned until handing the business off to a family member in 2009. In public appearances since his arrest, Crouse, a leukemia sufferer, has said he needed the large amounts of marijuana to produce hash oil, which he ingested in an effort to keep his cancer from spreading. He attributed his prosecution to anti-marijuana zeal and a mix-up over paperwork, which the District Attorney's office disputes. Under Colorado law, medical marijuana patients are permitted to grow up to three flowering pot plants and possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana. The amendment allows for greater amounts if "medically necessary" - a threshold likely to come into play at trial. Crouse's public defenders last week told a judge that prosecutors are trying to hamper their defense by filing a motion to block testimony by Robert Malamede, a University of Colorado-Colorado Springs professor. Malamede is expected to discuss the process of refining marijuana into hash oil. To the defense, Malamede's observations are central to rebutting the allegation Crouse was distributing drugs, as alleged. Prosecutors contend the testimony is irrelevant to the case and said in their motion the defense is laying the groundwork for "jury nullification" - suggesting they want jurors to ignore the law and acquit out of sympathy. "It's not even a recognized science, your honor," lead prosecutor Terry Sample said at a hearing last week. Judge Timothy J. Schutz asked attorneys to flesh out their arguments in legal filings and set a May 31 hearing to revisit the issue. The other defendant, Elisa Kappelmann, is among at least six people who were arrested in the wake of the so-called Beacon Street raids. The May 2010 action drew headlines when Colorado Springs police announced they were granted the use of a $7 million Department of Homeland Security counter-terrorism plane to fly surveillance over a warehouse that police had already established contained marijuana plants. The others who were charged have taken plea agreements, court records show. Kappelmann was a technology trainer at Hewlett-Packard before she decided to work on starting a marijuana dispensary, according to her boyfriend and former business partner Don McKay. McKay said the battle will boil down to paperwork - with Kappelmann's defense attorney, Rob Corry of Denver, arguing she was in compliance. McKay said the case reflected the District Attorney's hard line on medical marijuana, and that a jury would acquit after seeing the evidence. "It's going to end up being a huge embarrassment for the city, the D.A., and everybody else," McKay said. The District Attorney's Office has said it does not pursue medical marijuana growers who are in compliance with the laws. The office does not comment on pending cases. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom