A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of Hawaii island marijuana advocate Roger Christie and his wife, Sherryanne, who contend that U.S. drug laws violate their right to freely exercise their religion.
The Christies say they are ministers of The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry, which uses marijuana as a sacrament and distributed it from its downtown Hilo ministry.
In a published opinion handed down Tuesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Christies’ religious-freedom defense. The court said the government has a compelling interest in lessening the risk of marijuana from THC Ministry spreading to nonreligious, recreational users.
Roger Christie’s lawyer, Thomas Otake, said Christie, 66, will either take his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask for all the judges of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the case. Three members of the appeals court made up the panel that issued Tuesday’s opinion.
“Rev. Christie, meanwhile, maintains a positive attitude and belief that someday soon cannabis use for religious purposes will not be prosecuted,” Otake said.
Georgia McMillen, who is handling the appeal for 64-year-old Sherryanne Christie, said she will analyze the opinion and speak with her client, who will decide what option, among a number of options available, to take.
The Christies conditionally pleaded guilty in September 2013 to conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana plants or products. Their pleas came two weeks after U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi rejected their religious-freedom defense. Roger Christie also pleaded guilty to willfully failing to file personal income tax returns for 2008 and 2009.
The guilty pleas allowed the Christies to appeal Kobayashi’s ruling. Under the terms of their plea agreements, if the Christies win their appeal, they will be allowed to withdraw their guilty pleas and have their convictions overturned.
Kobayashi sentenced Roger Christie in April 2014 to five years in prison, followed by four years of court supervision, and Sherryanne Christie to
27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervision.
At the time of sentencing, Roger Christie had already been in pretrial confinement for nearly four years. He won early release from prison in November 2014.
Kobayashi stayed the imposition of Sherryanne Christie’s sentence until after the appeal is over.
A federal jury indicted the Christies in 2010, along with 12 others who either provided marijuana for the ministry or worked at the ministry. Eleven of the other defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to jail terms of between two days and 40 months. The 12th defendant did not show up in court in 2010 and was arrested in California in April.
