POT SHOTS TRADED IN HEMP CASE

HONOLULU - A lawyer representing a pro-marijuana activist accused Hawaii
County prosecutors of malicious prosecution Tuesday - but a county attorney
called them "dedicated public officials."

The dispute is part of a federal lawsuit in which Aaron Anderson is suing
the county for $1 million stemming from what he believes is politically
motivated prosecution for a felony drug charge in 1992.

Police arrested Anderson and Roger Christie in 1991 after a drug-sniffing
dog alerted authorities to a package containing 25 pounds of hemp seeds at
the Federal Express office in Hilo. Charges against Christie were dropped
eventually, but Anderson went to trial for commercial promotion of
marijuana in the second degree, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in
prison and a $25,000 fine.

In federal Judge Kevin Chang's courtroom Tuesday in Honolulu, Anderson's
attorney, Steven Strauss, said Anderson ordered a shipment of what he
thought were sterile hemp seeds to use in food. Deputy Corporation Council
Joseph Kamelamela called the shipment "marijuana seeds."

Anderson, wearing a hemp jacket and hemp shoes, sat a few feet from the
eight federal jurors Tuesday as the attorneys took turns presenting opening
statements.

"This case is about a lot of things, but first and foremost it's about
government power - and we contend the abuse of government power," Strauss said.

Former Deputy Prosecutor Kay Iopa obtained a grand jury indictment against
Anderson and Christie in 1992, but Pahoa Natural Foods, Long's Drugs,
Wal-Mart and Miranda Country Store have bought or sold hemp seeds and have
never been charged with any crimes, Strauss said.

When two members of Anderson's defense team bought hemp seeds as evidence
to present at trial, however, prosecutors threatened them with prosecution,
Strauss said.

Strauss quoted Iopa from the transcript of a court hearing in 1992: "We're
not going to go out, bust the little old lady that's got a bag of bird
seeds just because there is one marijuana seed in there," Iopa was quoted
as saying. She compared that scenario to "a hemp grower that is very
locally, outwardly advocating the legalization of marijuana."

During a 1994 meeting in judge's chambers, Circuit Court Judge Greg
Nakamura urged the attorneys to settle the case, Strauss said. Strauss told
prosecutors that if they stopped the prosecution he wouldn't sue the county
for civil rights violations. Iopa refused "unless these two guys stop
writing letters to the newspapers about this case," Strauss said.

In 1995 Christie was dismissed from the case. Anderson's case went to trial
but ended in a mistrial. Prosecuting Attorney Jay Kimura offered Anderson
the opportunity to plead guilty to a petty misdemeanor with a maximum of 30
days in jail, Strauss said. In exchange, Kimura allegedly offered to
publish a statement that his office would never again prosecute anyone for
buying bird seed.

Anderson rejected the offer and prosecutors asked the judge to try him
again on the felony charge. Judge Nakamura dismissed the case.

"The government abused its power," Strauss told the court on Tuesday. "They
did illegal and unconstitutional things for the wrong reason because they
didn't like what Mr. Anderson was doing."

Anderson has run for various offices as a Libertarian candidate on a
pro-hemp platform. "Can you imagine what it would be like?" Strauss said.
"You dedicate your life to a political goal, and you get prosecuted for it?"

Strauss asked the federal jury to award Anderson $1 million to send a
message to prosecutors. "We condemn the People's Republic of China ... for
what they do, and we condemn it here," he said.

After Strauss addressed the jurors, Kamelamela told them a different story.

"This case is not about a big sinister government going after Mr.
Anderson," Kamelamela said. "This is about the prosecution of someone who
possessed marijuana - not sterilized hemp seeds."

The county attorney said he will establish four facts:

Kimura is a policy maker for Hawaii County.

Iopa didn't commit any constitutional violations.

Kimura has no policy about prosecuting someone because of a particular
political position.

Anderson's seeds had not been sterilized.

Kamelamela said that Anderson's shipment of seeds arrived in a "suspicious
looking package" and contained no shipping receipts, making it different
from seeds ordered by local stores. "There's nothing suspicious about those
packages from the stores. Just doesn't make sense to prosecute the stores,"
he said.

Kamelamela acknowledged Iopa's reference to the little old lady with bird
seeds but added, "Maybe a little old lady won't know that the bird seed
that she has in her hand is marijuana seeds."

Kamelamela told the jury that Iopa's offer to drop the case if Anderson
stopped writing letters to the editor was not pressure to do so. "There is
really no evidence to show he had to forfeit his right to free speech," he
said. "The basis of the prosecution was not motivated to chill his first
amendment rights."

Kamelamela said that Strauss' $1 million figure is based on speculation.
"In the end, what the county's going to be asking for is that we're not
responsible for those damages and that there's no liability against the
county," he said.

Iopa, Kimura, First Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Iboshi, Corporation Counsel
Lincoln Ashida, Anderson and Christie are among the witnesses scheduled to
testify during the 12-day trial.