THE POT CIRCUS COMES TO THE COURTHOUSE

First the cops took their pot.

Now they want to take their church.

Weed worshippers Walter Tucker and Michael Baldasaro, reverends in
the Church of the Universe, were served yesterday with an application
by the attorney general to forfeit the Barton Street building the
brothers call both home and church. The AG is going after the house
worth about $98,000 as "offence-related property" since Tucker and
Baldasaro were convicted of selling $70 worth of marijuana to an
undercover police officer.

The brothers were served with the notice while in court yesterday for
what was supposed to be a sentencing hearing on the trafficking
conviction. In the end -- after a morning of antics that only the
brothers could pull off in a courthouse -- both the sentencing and
the forfeiture hearings have been postponed until April 22.

The forfeiture would come under proceeds of crime legislation in both
the Criminal Code of Canada and the Controlled Drug and Substance
Act. The legislation can apply to any property used to commit an
indictable offense.

And since the brothers sold the pot -- which they consider a
religious sacrament -- inside their house, their ownership of the
church is now in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, until the hearing, Tucker and Baldasaro cannot sell or
rent their property, although they can continue to live in it.

In the past two years in Hamilton, applications for this type of
forfeiture have been made 11 times, and all those cases are still
before the courts. One case relates to a chop shop, the rest involve
marijuana grow operations.

One of the legal issues that will almost certainly be examined in
this is the concept of "proportionality." Is it fair to seize a
home/church in a matter that stems from a small amount of pot? Of
course, if you ask the brothers, none of this is fair.

"Justice is a beautiful thing, but you've got to take that blindfold
off her," said Baldasaro in a voice worthy of any preacher.

With his trademark multi-coloured hemp hat, long grizzled beard and a
huge crucifix belt buckle, the reverend was in fighting form
yesterday. At various points in the morning, he took on just about
everyone: Justice John Cavarzan, the crown attorneys and even his own
counsel, the ever-patient Peter Boushy.

"I don't listen to lawyers if I think they're wrong," Baldasaro said,
as he sparred with Boushy over giving the media copies of court
documents. While Boushy politely advised that the media should get it
through the court staff, Baldasaro insisted on photocopying the
report himself and personally handing it to reporters.

A moment later, Baldasaro, 58, was playfully riding around the halls
of the John Sopinka Courthouse on the back of a supporter's wheelchair.

Tucker, who recently turned 75, was only slightly more reserved.

Also sporting the hemp hat and beard, along with an odd hearing aid
sort of thing clipped onto his hat, Tucker worked his loyal crowd
during breaks in the proceedings.

In all, there were about a dozen hemp-hat-wearing disciples in the
courtroom, their bright coloured headwear in sharp contrast to the
lawyers' sombre robes. At least one of the followers has a medical
prescription for marijuana and almost certainly all had smoked-up
before heading to court. One could surely get high just off the
residual fumes emanating from many in attendance.

Many of the church members wore T-shirts sporting slogans such as
"Marijuana is the Tree of Life" or "I believe in the legalization of
marijuana." They busied themselves brainstorming a way to sell shirts
to help finance the reverends' legal costs.

Also in the mix was documentary film maker Lee Hillman, a Hamilton
native who has been following the brothers for a couple of years now
for a piece he's doing on "the limits of religious freedom in Canada."

After a number of breaks and delays, the whole circus filed back into
the courtroom to learn when the case would be remanded to.

At the end of it, Tucker wasn't clear if everything was over for the
day and asked, "Are we coming back in 20 minutes?"

Justice Cavarzan -- who will get three days of this grandstanding
come April -- sighed and answered this way:

"No. I'm coming back in 20 minutes. And I hope you won't be here."