GRAND JURY TO TAKE ON CASE OF MEDICINAL POT GROWING

District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said Thursday that two of his
deputies are presenting evidence to a Mesa County grand jury in the
investigation of a local, large-scale, marijuana-grow operation.

Hautzinger didn't identify the grand jury's target but said the
enterprise in question is "claimed to be for medical marijuana
purposes under Amendment 20."

"I asked if they (grand jury) were interested. They said they were,
and the investigation is active and ongoing," said Hautzinger, adding
the panel was seated earlier this year. He declined further comment.

Since late May, Hautzinger has said he was undecided on whether
criminal charges would be filed related to a March 9 raid by Western
Colorado Drug Task Force Officers at a pot-grow operation owned by
Sid Squirrell, a local developer and commercial Realtor with Bray &
Co., who also owns the building where the grow was found at 573 W.
Crete Circle.

Squirrell at the time told an officer that the marijuana, 1,080
plants at various stages of growth, was being grown for Naturals, A
Wellness Center, a dispensary at 624 Rae Lynn Drive, according to a
search warrant affidavit.

Task Force officers obtained a seizure warrant for photocopies of
approximately 308 of Naturals' patient files, which were found at the
Crete Circle building.

Officers said in the affidavit they needed the information to help
determine "who the primary caregiver is" for each patient, the
affidavit said.

Squirrell was among six people acting as a primary caregiver for
Naturals, while Amendment 20 identifies such a person as someone
other than the patient's physician, 18 or older, "who has significant
responsibility for managing the wellbeing of a patient who has a
debilitating medical condition."

Squirrell has not returned calls and requests for
comment.

While the proceedings of a grand jury are shrouded in secrecy under
state law, Hautzinger said he decided to acknowledge the pot probe
Thursday after he received queries about local residents being served
with subpoenas to testify.

Counties with populations greater than 100,000 are required to
empanel grand juries each year, according to state law.

Jurors, who meet periodically when called by prosecutors, serve up to
a year, and service can be extended up to 18 months. They can issue
indictments, decline indictments or issue reports.

Prosecutors are not obligated to file charges identical to a grand
jury's indictment.

Mesa County has empaneled a grand jury for the past four years, but
the grand jury was given little to do. Indictments were not returned
in February 2006 after an investigation into the botched investment
of taxpayer dollars by a board member of the Grand Junction Rural
Fire Protection District.