HOLY SMOKE THREE CONFINED TO HOMES

THE LEGALIZATION FIGHT: Men unable to go outside homes until court
decides on some less restrictive conditions

The three men sentenced to house arrest in the Holy Smoke trial have
been left literally unable to leave their homes by their sentence.

"Right now, if there's a fire in the house, they can't leave," said
Don Skogstad, lawyer for Alan Middlemiss, Paul DeFelice and Kelsey
Stratas, who were handed six to nine-month conditional sentences late
last month instead of time in jail for selling marijuana out of The
Holy Smoke Culture Shop in downtown Nelson.

As the conditions of their sentences currently stand, the three have
been denied permission to leave their homes for anything short of a
court summons.

Skogstad said the normal conditions meted out for a conditional
sentence allow individuals opportunity to leave their homes for
specified periods of time to go to such things as work, doctors
appointments, and the post office.

"It's not supposed to be any more onerous than being in jail, where
you get to go to work and you get to go to the doctor and the
dentist," Skogstad noted.

He has been in hearings with the Crown attorney and Judge Sperry at
the Nelson Courthouse in an effort to straighten out the conditions
placed upon the three, and said it's only a matter of time until
they're given a greater degree of freedom.

"It looks like the court of appeal being down in Vancouver wanted to
consider that the conditions should be set locally by people who know
about the area," Skogstad said.

"There's no question that everyone says there needs to be more done.
They have to have the ability to get to the hospital. The prosecution
agreed to a limited extent that there needs to be change. The basics
need to be in there."

Skogstad expects to have more concrete details on their conditions by
early next week.

Crown prosecutor, Rob Brown was not available for comment as of press
time.

Meanwhile, Middlemiss, Defelice and Stratas are confined to their
small residences without the ability to even go outside to get some
sun, they say.

Middlemiss said that his probation officer has said the conditions
placed upon them are unusual, and they are seeking to have them
changed or it will be difficult to live.

"I would like to at least be able to just go out into my yard to be
able to exercise," Middlemiss said. "If I'm never allowed to leave, I
might have a home business based on being in and out of the yard. How
could we survive with no money and no ability to go out. We couldn't
even go to a welfare appointment.

"We don't want to go to Shambhala. We're not saying we want to do
anything of the like. All we're asking for is the ability for the
necessities of life."