Hemp seeds in spotlight again during trial of pot advocate

Officer grew pot plants as means of gathering evidence

By Crystal Kua
TribuneHerald

Products containing hemp seeds have been sold in stores locally, a police
officer told a Circuit Court jury Wednesday.

Officer Dennis De Morales testified in the trial of marijuana advocate
Aaron Anderson, who is charged with seconddegree commercial promotion of
marijuana.

The charge, a felony, stems from a 25pound shipment of hemp seeds
Anderson, 60, ordered from a mainland seed company in 1991

Police intercepted the package and then questioned Anderson 'when he :went
to the Federal Express office In Hilo to pick up the parcel on May 9 1991.

Anderson wasn't arrested at the scene: because' police considered the
situation "lowrisk"."

Anderson contends that the seeds he ordered. were supposed to be sterile

De Morales, however, testified that in order to test Anderson's claim, De
Morales grew marijuana plants 8 inches to a foot tall from the seeds.

De Morales, the chief investigator in the case,' testified that the first
batch he tried to grow, which consisted of 423 seeds, died. He said the
reason the plants died was because they were burned by being over
fertilized, an answer which the judge didn't allow to stand.

A second batch of 59 seeds produced the plants that De Morales eventually
kept as evidence.

During crossexamination, De Morales acknowledged he has seen in local
stores products with labels that say the products contain hemp seeds.

He said the stores are generally feed stores such as the Miranda Country
store.

De Morales also agreed with defense lawyer Brian De Lima that police are
not qualified to tell the difference between marijuana and hemp seeds.

The defense argues that Anderson also knew that retail outlets locally sold
products which contain hemp, but he opted to buy directly from a mainland
supplier to avoid the middle man.

De Lima also hammered away at inconsistencies in De Morales' police report
and previous court testimony.

For example, De Morales said he took a portion of the seeds from the
original parcel and put it in another smaller bag just in case something
happened to the original parcel.

De Morales said the larger package was used in a controlled delivery to
Anderson while the smaller package, which Anderson never handled, was kept
in a locker at the police station.

De Morales testified Wednesday that Anderson "had the parcel in his hand"
when De Morales stopped him outside the Federal Express office. De Morales
also testified that it was the larger package that was delivered to
Anderson in the controlled situation.

But De Lima pointed out that De Morales did not mention in his police
report that Anderson took possession of the parcel, and the report even
said that the parcel was in De Morales' custody at the time Anderson was
questioned.

De Lima also showed De Morales a transcript of the police officer's
testimony in a 1995 proceeding in the case. In that transcript, De Morales
testified it was the smaller—not large package which was used in the
controlled delivery.

"It was a mistake," De Morales said of the 1995 testimony.

The defense has argued Anderson never took possession of the package.

Trial continues today be Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura