HEMP ADVOCATE LOSES CASE AGAINST COUNTY

HONOLULU - A federal jury has found that the Hawaii County prosecuting
attorney didn't violate Aaron Anderson's constitutional rights when his
office took the marijuana advocate to court on felony drug charges.

Anderson, 62, sued the county, claiming he was the target of selective
prosecution because of his views on marijuana.

A grand jury indicted Anderson and Roger Christie on commercial promotion
of marijuana charges in 1992 after a drug - sniffing dog alerted
authorities to a 25 - pound shipment of seeds at the Federal Express office
in Hilo. Anderson said he ordered sterile hemp seeds for use in food
products. Police and prosecutors said it was marijuana, an illegal member
of the hemp family.

Christie was eventually dropped from the case, and Circuit Judge Greg
Nakamura dismissed Anderson's charges after his 1998 trial ended in a hung
jury.

At the end of the civil lawsuit in Federal Judge Kevin Chang's Honolulu
courtroom, the jury of five women and three men deliberated only two hours
before reaching its verdict Thursday afternoon.

Anderson's attorney, Steven Strauss, said he's considering appealing the
verdict because jurors told him they felt "constrained" by questions they
had to answer on a special verdict form that Strauss had objected to.

On the form, the jury was asked whether Anderson proved that Prosecuting
Attorney Jay Kimura "intentionally" deprived Anderson of his right to speak
freely and whether Kimura "intentionally or arbitrarily" deprived him of
his right to be free from selective prosecution. The jury answered "no" to
both questions.

Kay Iopa, who was then a deputy prosecutor, was in charge of Anderson's
criminal case and Kimura was her boss. Iopa and Kimura were originally
named as defendants in the lawsuit but were dropped from the case because
they were acting in their official capacities during Anderson's
prosecution. Christie was originally one of the plaintiffs but he also was
dropped from the civil case.

Christie and Anderson have similar lawsuits against the county pending in
state court.

Strauss said that he was "disappointed and dismayed" at the verdict but
that he hopes a Big Island jury will feel differently.

"The jury expressed their view that they believe the county will never do
such a thing again," Strauss said. "I'm not convinced. I think a verdict
like this will encourage the county to consider a similar course of conduct."

In closing arguments earlier Thursday, Strauss reminded the jurors that
during jury selection they all said they loved the United States Constitution.

Strauss argued that Anderson was treated differently because he vocally
advocated the legalization of marijuana. "You may not agree with him, but
if you love the Constitution, you have to protect his right to do that,"
Strauss said.

Strauss argued that Kimura was responsible because, for one thing, he
instructed Iopa to ask police to investigate whether anyone else was buying
hemp seeds and then dropped the ball. "He assigned the person who's accuse
of denying rights to investigate and he didn't follow up," Strauss said.

Strauss said Kimura isn't "necessarily a bad person or a sinister person.
This case is about whether he did his job."

Corporation Counsel Joseph Kamelamela, who defended the county against the
lawsuit, told the jury that prosecutors were just doing their job when they
charged Anderson with the crime.

Kamelamela said the case started because of a dog alert and continued
because Anderson's seeds germinated. "Are we saying that a dog was the
start of this selective prosecution?" he asked. "I don't think so."

Deputy Public Defender Neilani Graham testified at trial that Iopa said she
wouldn't negotiate any plea agreement unless Anderson and Christie agreed
to stop writing letters to the newspaper about their case. But Kamelamela
said such a condition was never part of any official plea offer. "There
really was no deprivation of his first amendment rights," Kamelamela said.

Kimura is the policy maker in the prosecutor's office, Kamelamela said.
When Kimura got information about Iopa's alleged statement about letter
writing, "What does he do? He talks to Kay Iopa and tells her, 'Don't do
that,'" Kamelamela said. Kamelamela suggested that the jury read 11 letters
that Anderson wrote to the newspaper while his case was active.

"There's nothing to show that Jay Kimura, the policy maker, wanted to go
after him," Kamelamela said. "We try to be fair. We want to be fair because
we, too, love the Constitution."

After the verdict, both Kimura and Kamelamela said they didn't want to
comment much because of the pending state cases. "We're pleased with the
verdict of the jury," Kimura said.

Anderson, who had asked for $1 million in damages, was downcast after
hearing the verdict.

"I just don't know how we're going to stop our government," he said. "It
makes you wonder seriously about living in America."

Last April the Hawaii County Council rejected a $1 million settlement
request by Anderson and Christie. At that time, council member Bobby Jean
Leithead - Todd said she would have voted for a settlement in the
neighborhood of $150,000 to avoid paying legal fees.