MAN'S STATEMENTS WILL BE ALLOWED AT POT TRIAL

Port Washington - An Ozaukee County judge ruled Friday that statements made
by one of two brothers accused of growing large amounts of marijuana on a
Town of Belgium farm are admissible in their trial.

But Circuit Judge Walter J. Swietlik scheduled another hearing for Jan. 31
to hear additional testimony on whether statements made by the other
brother and evidence gathered on his farm in September should be admitted.

Defense attorneys Kirk Obear and Brigette Boyle were asking Swietlik to not
allow statements made by both David Burmesch Sr., 74, and his brother,
Eugene, 80, claiming the men were not properly informed of their rights and
did not understand the questions being asked of them by police.

In addition, the motions argued that agents had used improper tactics to
gather evidence and information that formed the basis for the case against
the brothers.

The brothers are charged with running one of the largest marijuana-growing
operations ever found in Wisconsin. In the Sept. 1 raid, agents from the
state Department of Justice seized 498 marijuana plants and 98.5 pounds of
processed marijuana.

Agents first went to David Burmesch Sr.'s Town of Belgium farm Sept. 1
because of an anonymous tip that there was a large marijuana-growing
operation there, Special Agent Paul M. Byal testified at an earlier hearing.

The secret garden where the marijuana was growing was found because David
Burmesch Jr. told them there was such a place on the farm where "zing-zang"
was being grown.

On Friday, both brothers took the stand and testified that neither had been
informed of their rights and that David Sr.'s understanding of what was
happening was further hindered by a defective hearing aid.

Hearing aid problems

When asked by Obear if he understood a statement he had signed for the
police, David Sr. said "not all the way" and that he only assented to a
police search after he was threatened.

"They told me they'd burn the house down and tear it apart. Yeah, you told
me that," he said, addressing the two officers sitting nearby in the
courtroom. "It was a frightening thing."

Jacqueline Burmesch, daughter-in-law of David Sr., testified that he often
had trouble understanding her because of a defective hearing aid.

Eugene Burmesch testified that the two officers appeared at his house early
on Sept. 1, only telling him "to get ready to go with them to the farm."

Asked by Boyle if he had ever been arrested before, Eugene asked her to
repeat the question:

"Do you have a criminal record?" she asked.

"Jeez, I hope not," Eugene said, after which he confessed he was stopped
for speeding once while driving up St. Mary's hill in Port Washington.

"When was that?" Boyle asked.

"Oh, that had to be in the early '40s. I was driving a '36 Chevy coupe at
the time," Burmesch said.

At the earlier hearing, both Byal and his partner, Special Agent John
Balchunas, said it seemed to them that both Burmesches understood what was
going on.

David Sr. continually denied marijuana was being grown on his farm, even
after Byal and Balchunas saw hundreds of marijuana plants growing in a
fenced area, Byal testified.

Byal testified that it was Eugene Burmesch who persuaded his brother to
tell law enforcement authorities the details of the growing operation.

Ruling from the bench, Swietlik said any statements made by Eugene Burmesch
were voluntary and made not while in custody or under arrest and could be
admitted.

The men are scheduled to go to trial March 22.

Jeff Cole of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.