MARIJUANA ACTIVIST GOES TO COURT TO SEEK RETURN OF COMPUTERS

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) -- An embattled marijuana activist has gone to court
to try to get back computers police took during a drug raid two weeks
ago, seizures his lawyer said violate privacy rights and
constitutional freedoms of speech and association.

Bill Conde, 55, was charged with a felony count of marijuana
possession when Linn County sheriff's deputies found slightly more
than an ounce of marijuana at his property near Harrisburg on Sept.
15.

Searching for drug records, authorities took computers that Conde said
he uses to run his redwood lumber business, as well as to store
political action committee information. One computer was used to
operate a reader board visible from Interstate 5 that displayed
messages about marijuana initiatives on the Nov. 3 general election
ballot.

Conde's attorney, Brian Michaels, argued Tuesday that authorities are
going after Conde because of his outspoken political views.

"There's no scintilla of probable cause to hold these records,"
Michaels told Linn County Circuit Judge Rick McCormick. "There was no
scintilla of probable cause to have even obtained these records."

But sheriff's deputies say the computers are relevant to their probe
of drug use and drug sales at the marijuana-themed events, most
recently the three-day "Cannabis Carnival" over Labor Day weekend.

"He profits by selling tickets to events where people know they can
get drugs," sheriff's Lt. Dar Holm said Tuesday about Conde.

Holm testified that drug sales were "rampant, widespread" at the
Cannabis Carnival and said he believes Conde knew it, and profited
from it. He noted that Conde advertised the $10-per-person festival on
the Internet, ads that boasted that there would be "no cops" there.

Michaels said the computers' records include names of people who
support marijuana legalization and lists of people who registered to
vote during events held on Conde's property.

Now, he said, political contributions are drying up and people who are
named in the computer records fear authorities are going to harass
them.

The computers are believed to hold lists of vendors, and possibly
lists of security guards.

"This investigation is hindering the political process in the state of
Oregon," Michaels said.

"What you have is a situation where a lot of people are going to be
investigated who are not identified as criminals."

Undercover narcotics officers bought drugs, primarily marijuana, 26
times during the Cannabis Carnival and witnessed numerous other drug
transactions, according to the affidavit filed in support of the
search warrant.

"It was a valid seizure for reasons of a criminal investigation," Linn
County deputy district attorney George Eder said in court.

The computers' hard drives were turned over to state police computer
specialists, who won't have time to examine them until Monday, Holm
said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry