MEN ASSERT THEY GREW 'MEDICINE'

Three men convicted in connection with one of the province's
largest-ever grow-ops continued to assert they were not guilty of a
crime, a panel of Saskatchewan Court of Appeal judges heard on Wednesday.

"All I can do is come up and tell you the truth and this is what I'm
doing," Lawrence Hubert Agecoutay, 53, said.

Lawrence Agecoutay -- now on day parole from his six-year sentence --
was the only one of the three who appeared in person. His brother,
Robert Stanley Agecoutay, 50 (still in custody, serving his 3 1/2-year
sentence), and business partner Chester Fernand Girard, 61 (also on
day parole from his 5 1/2-year sentence) appeared by videoconferencing
from Prince Albert and Ottawa, respectively. The three are appealing
their convictions for unlawfully producing marijuana and possession of
the drug for the purpose of trafficking.

"They have no proof," Girard contended. "There's never been any
proof. The sentences are atrocious because there was never a crime committed."

Before Justices Gary Lane, Robert Richards and Gene Anne Smith, the
men repeated the position they'd taken since charges were laid -- that
what they were doing wasn't illegal and that they were merely growing
"medicine" for their people.

"This was not for greed, as (the prosecution) says ...," said Lawrence
Agecoutay, the self-described leader of the group. "It was for healing
my people that are dying every day."

The Crown contends the men were growing marijuana to make money. An
August 2005 RCMP raid at the group's property on the Pasqua First
Nation located 6,000 marijuana plants worth an estimated $2 million to
$7.5 million. The men argued on Wednesday the plants contained no THC,
the active ingredient in marijuana that produces a high.

They further argued search warrants were not left at each property
searched as they should have been, nor were they valid on the group's
properties; that excessive force was used; that there was no intent to
traffic marijuana; and that there was a lack of people with aboriginal
ancestry on the jury. Girard went so far as to argue the Court of
Appeal didn't have the authority to even hear the appeal.

Meanwhile, Crown prosecutor Wade McBride made argument on his own
appeal, asking the courts to increase the sentences given to Lawrence
Agecoutay and Girard. Among his arguments was that aggravating
circumstances -- including that children helped tend to the crop --
were not considered by the trial judge. He added the sentences
received were not appropriate given the scale of the operation.

The court reserved decision as it awaits further information from
McBride on the search warrant issue.