MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROTESTERS HURT 70-YEAR-OLD WOMAN'S CASE, SAYS ATTORNEY

Supporters protesting outside the Oakland County Courthouse during a
recent medical marijuana case negatively impacted Barbara Agro's
case, according to her attorney.

Jerome Sabbota said jurors in the recent case of Barbara Agro -
charged with one count of delivery/manufacture of marijuana, a
four-year felony - were approached by the protesters as they walked
back into the courthouse.

"The judge then brought each juror in after and said, 'Are you going
to follow the law?'" said Sabbota.

"The court felt (the protest) was jury tampering. In the end, that hurt Barb."

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said there was an attempt to
influence the jury. Some protesters handed a statement to jurors.

"Were they able to do (influence the jury)? Apparently not," said
Cooper. "This is a very serious crime and apparently (those
tampering) have been identified on video."

Cooper said "hijinks" such as this are not being attempted by "people
who are obeying the law."

Agro was convicted on June 8. She could receive up to four years in
jail, Sabbota said.

Agro, a former Lake Orion police dispatcher, worked as a receptionist
at a medical marijuana dispensary in Ferndale called Clinical Relief.
When the facility was raided on Aug. 25, 2010, Agro told deputies
that she had marijuana plants growing at her home in Lake Orion.
Deputies searched the house and found 19 marijuana plants and other items.

Agro is a registered medical marijuana patient and caregiver. In a
previous ruling, Oakland Circuit Judge Wendy Potts granted a motion
from prosecutors seeking to preclude Agro from referencing the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Act during the trial.

"Barb believes the truth did not really come out," said Sabbota.
"There was no reason the jury couldn't have been told that (she was a
patient and caregiver)."

Prosecutors said Agro was not charged with using marijuana, but with
growing it.

Agro will be sentenced July 13. Sabbota said he will appeal the case
"as soon as she is sentenced."

In 2008, Michigan voters approved a ballot proposal that included
physician-approved use of marijuana by registered patients with
debilitating medical conditions and allowed registered individuals to
grow limited amounts of marijuana for qualified patients.

Sabbota believes law enforcement in general does not want change to
occur in drug enforcement proceedings because current laws allow drug
finances seized to be divided among police, sheriffs' and prosecutors' budgets.

"Locals (law enforcement) wouldn't get the money" if marijuana was
legalized, he said.