SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- On his property in Lake County, Reverend Charles "Eddy" Lepp founded a chapel of Rastafari and incorporated it as a religious non-profit organization.
He took in followers, committed acts of charity, and gathered together a ministry for spiritual guidance.
He also grew fields of cannabis in accordance with his legal status as a patient and caregiver under California's medical marijuana law.
But state law didn't provide any protection when Lepp was raided by federal agents, and it hasn't offered a defense in the legal case he's been battling for nearly a year and a half.
He's fighting the U.S government, after all, and federal law does not recognize medical marijuana.
Lepp did, however, anticipate some protection from a religious defense.
His expectations were bolstered by a Supreme Court ruling in favor of religious freedom earlier this year. In Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, which addressed the use of illegal substances during religious ceremonies, the Court ruled that the federal government is required to demonstrate a compelling state interest if it restricts religious freedom.
In a federal courtroom in San Francisco last week, however, Lepp was given only doubt and ridicule with regard to his religious beliefs.
Lepp's religious advisor, Reverend Tom Brown
In her first decision of the day, Judge Marilyn Patel ousted from the defense table Reverend Tom Brown, who serves as Lepp's religious advisor.
"This is a court of law and not a church," the judge declared with marked irritation as she ordered Brown to sit in the spectator seats.
The move was a foreshadowing of the general treatment Lepp's religious claims would receive in court that day.
"This case goes back a long way," Judge Patel said firmly. "There were many motions made. When all of these other attempts failed, Mr. Lepp took the stand and testified....and I think his understanding of Rastafarianism was pretty superficial."
"I have strong doubts about whether this is a serious religious belief, or just something that allows him to keep growing marijuana," the judge added.
In her assessment of the details of the case, Judge Patel appeared to have a particularly difficult time when considering the quantity of marijuana in question.
The 2005 raid on Lepp's property netted over 6000 plants and also introduced an allegation of sales to an undercover officer. "We're not talking about sacrament here. He was selling it -- he sold it to an undercover agent," the judge said conclusively of Lepp, despite the fact that he remains innocent of the charge.
"We're talking about thousands upon thousands of plants," Judge Patel continued. "We're not talking religion. We're not talking sacrament. We're talking big-time marijuana."
Reverend Eddy Lepp
The defense attempted to argue that the amount of marijuana was indeed proportionate to the number of church members, but this claim was only met with further rebuke from the judge.
"The amount involved is disproportionate to any sacramental use," Judge Patel commented. "By his own testimony, the number of people who came in for the sacrament -- and that's all they seemed to do was take sacrament and nothing else -- this was a very small number of people. For all I can tell, these were just drug deals."
"Mr. Lepp may be better off keeping them to himself," the judge said with regard to records of church membership. "They may be more incriminating than helpful."
With hopes for a successful religious defense looking dim, Lepp's case depends upon an upcoming evidentiary hearing that will address the validity of the search warrant used in the 2005 raid on his property.
Judge Patel has already demonstrated her willingness to strike down warrants. She recently declared that the warrant for a separate 2004 raid on Lepp's property was invalid, thereby suppressing 32,524 marijuana plants from evidence in the case.
Whether the 2005 warrant will meet a similar fate remains to be seen. The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for 9:30am on January 9th at 450 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco.
In the meantime, Lepp continues to show his faith and devotion. "I have not to this day broken my word to God," Lepp said with calm conviction, "and I will not ever break my word, no matter what happens, and no matter what is said here in this court."
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