A QUESTION OF JURISDICTION

Local man charges self-proclaimed Pot King Marc Emery: Canada's
Attorney General trying to stay charges

For the second time in the last year,a a private citizen has laid
charges against Marc Emery, B.C.'s King of Pot, in a bid to prevent
the marijuana activist's extradition to the U.S. Though the first
attempt, made by David McCann who filed his charges in September of
2005, failed; this around both the Slocan Valley's Patrick Roberts,
who filed the most recent charges and his legal council, Nelson
lawyer Don Skogstad, think they have a strong case for keeping the
accused north of the border.

Emery, Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek and Greg Williams have been indicted
by a U.S. federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to distribute
marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to
engage in money laundering. Roberts charged them with the same
offenses. Under the criminal code, if the three are charged in
Canada, they cannot be charged for the same crimes in the U.S.
Roberts said he laid the charges because he believes Emery and his
cohorts should be charged in the country where they committed their
offences. He is also concerned with Canada's political stance in
relation to the United States, one he describes as "bare naked with
hind quarters in the air."

"I believe they're guilty, they admit they're guilty, and I believe a
Canadian should never be answerable to United States law for things
they have done entirely in Canada," he said. "I believe the
sovereignty of each of us is preserved by carrying this prosecution
out here."

Canada's federal attorney general is currently trying to stay
Roberts' charges, which would clear the way for the accused party's
extradition. Roberts and his lawyer, Nelson-based Don Skogstad, both
claim the feds are sticking their nose where it doesn't belong and
they're taking them to Supreme Court in Nelson to prevent further
involvement.

"There is no legal basis for their intervention, they're my charges;
they can't drop them for me," said Roberts, who was extradited for
marijuana charges in 2001, when he was falsely linked to a bungled
B.C. RCMP investigation focused on an accused Shuswap smuggler.
Roberts spent 135 days in jail after a request from the DEA's office
resulted in him being pulled off a plane and arrested on a flight
from Ireland to Amsterdam in 2001. His charges were eventually
stayed, and Roberts was acquitted, but the event left a sour taste in
his mouth.

"I'll come right out and say I'm a little pissed at what happened to
me, so if it does work out that America is not able to extend the
reach of its law into our country, I'm all the happier for that,"
continued Roberts.

If American drug-enforcement officials get their way, Emery will
stand trial in Seattle, where his charges could end in a minimum
prison term of 10 years to a maximum of life. Roberts' lawyer Don
Skogstad said the case clearly shows how the Canadian government is
deferring to the Americans by making efforts to deliver Emery to the
south.

"The prosecution was not brought about by the federal government or
any of the police forces that work with them, it's private, so as far
as we're concerned they don't have any right to intervene. It's a
legal question for the judge to answer," he said. "Why should
justice for British Columbians, and in Marc's case, who has never
been in the United States, take place in a different country?"

A B.C. Supreme Court judge in Nelson delayed his decision regarding
the attorney general's right to intervene on Monday, April 24.