Felony synthetic THC charge tossed in Michigan man’s battle with crime lab

Felony synthetic THC charge tossed in Michigan man’s battle with crime lab

GRAND HAVEN, MI — A judge has sided with a Spring Lake man in his battle to get a felony marijuana charge dismissed, a case that hinged on controversial state police testing methods.

 

Ottawa County Circuit Court Judge Ed Post granted a motion to quash the case against 35-year-old Max Lorincz, who was charged with possessing synthetic THC.

 

Max_Lorincz_KomornLaw

 

Lorincz was charged in early 2015 with possessing marijuana after police responded to his house for a medical call and found a small container containing a dab of marijuana oil. Lorincz uses the oil to control pain after a 2005 debilitating back injury.

Lorincz argued he was a registered medical marijuana patient and refused to plead guilty to the charge. Prosecutors then upgraded the count to the felony.

 

Related: Michigan’s medical marijuana law circumvented by crime labs’ THC reports, attorney charges

 

Prosecutors alleged the charge was appropriate because state police crime lab technicians simply listed the oil as containing THC, with the origin unknown because there was no plant-based material found.

 

Ottawa County Prosecutor Ron Frantz earlier described the charging decision as a “legal question of statutory interpretation.”

 

But Lorincz’s attorney, Michael Komorn, argued that prosecutors need more evidence before they can file a charge of synthetic THC. In Lorincz’s case, the oil was from marijuana, he said.

 

Related: ‘It’s been a nightmare,’ man says of contested synthetic marijuana charge

 

Komorn argued some prosecutors across the state have pressured the crime lab to report oils and waxes as “origin unknown,” allow them to pursue harsher charges.

The troubles surrounding the felony charge for Lorincz involved more than just a criminal case.

 

Authorities placed the 6-year-old son of Lorincz and his wife into foster care after an Ottawa County Family Court petition was filed. Their son has been in foster care for more than a year and the couple, as of late October, only had supervised visitation rights.

 

A hearing is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 22, to review the Family Court case.

Frantz issued the following statement following Post’s ruling:

 

“The court’s decision turned on definitions and statutory language that we believed supported the charge as written. The District Court judge found our interpretation to be correct, Circuit Judge Post disagreed and ruled otherwise,” Frantz wrote.

 

“We believe the increasing prevalence of extremely high potency marijuana-based and synthetic-based drugs is reason to update and clarify our statutes,” he said.

 

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/01/felony_synthetic_thc_charged_t.html#incart_river_home

 

 

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison

 

Judge dismissed felony charge against medical marijuana patient Max Lorincz

Judge dismissed felony charge against medical marijuana patient Max Lorincz

OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. – After 16 months of a criminal and family court battle, an Ottawa County Circuit Court Judge dismissed wrongful felony charges against a Spring Lake father and card-carrying medical marijuana patient for having “synthetic THC.”

 

Friday Max Lorincz was in court for multiple hearings regarding his criminal case, after he was charged with a two-year felony for what the Michigan State Police crime lab depicts as “synthetic THC.” Judge Edward Post ruled that the prosecution did not provide any evidence to prove what Lorincz had was not marijuana; therefore the charge is dropped.

 

Max_Lorincz_KomornLaw

 

“It’s been a long 16 months, it’s just nice to have it over that’s for sure,” said Lorincz.

“I’m glad it helps anyone else, I mean from the very beginning I haven’t been willing to take a plea deal or anything ‘cause I didn’t do anything wrong. We’ve always medicated properly, and tried to make sure that we’re doing everything right,” he said.

 

This dismissal has statewide implications for marijuana cases, and potentially puts a stop to erroneous charges of synthetic THC.

 

Several MSP crime lab directors and scientists argued themselves that it is unreasonable to believe synthetic THC would be tested in their labs.

 

“The judge got it right: the law is very clear on this, and any prosecutor that proceeds under a theory as this office did here is flat-out wrong,” said Attorney Michael Komorn, who represents Lorincz.

 

“It should be appealed, they should be stopped from doing that. So all defense lawyers should know that it’s an inappropriate charge.”

 

This dismissal is a huge step for Lorincz, but his life is only partly back to normal as he and his wife continue to fight for custody of their six-year-old son, Dante.

“[My son] has been incredibly happy, having a lot of fun and begs us to come home constantly,” said Lorincz.

 

“Obviously we can’t give him answers about any of that, but we try to keep him positive, we try to stay as positive as we can.”

 

Lorincz’s crime lab report showed he had a “smear” amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and then the phrase “origin unknown.” He was charged with a two-year felony for having synthetic pot; a case FOX 17 has been reporting since February 2015. As a result of this charge, Lorincz and his wife lost custody of Dante, and have spent the last 16 months in a separate family court case that has uprooted their lives.

 

In October, FOX 17 broke Komorn’s allegations that the crime labs’ recent policy change is corrupt. It’s a policy that is accused of targeting Michigan medical marijuana patients with far-reaching affects for Lorincz,  who is fighting for custody of his son because of it.

 

Komorn first accused prosecutors of inappropriately influencing the way the MSP crime labs report marijuana extracts, when plant matter is not visible–like in the case of brownies and oils–as “origin unknown” on the lab report. This statement allows prosecutors the discretion to charge a person with a felony for having “synthetic THC,” instead of having marijuana, which is a misdemeanor.

 

Komorn, along with Attorneys Neil Rockind and Mike Nichols, filed federal complaints against the MSP crime labs to the National Institute of Justice. Their complaints call for an independent investigation into these allegations that the state crime labs are knowingly misreporting marijuana as “origin unknown,” which again leads to felonies for synthetic THC.

 

The bottom line, Komorn and others argue, is the crime labs should be dependent of the state police. Emails Komorn obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show a conflict of interest between police, the crime lab, and prosecutors he said.

 

“The emails tell a story that show there’s a deep conflict of interest, and this case is that example,” said Komorn.

 

“The emails from this case reflect a non-independent forensic center that is essentially witnesses for the prosecution with the same goal of conviction, not a goal of science and accuracy.”

 

Friday in Ottawa County Circuit Court, Judge Post heard the defense’s motion to quash Lorincz’s bindover; Daubert hearing; as well as a bill of particulars.

 

Attorney Karen Miedema with the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office, handling Lorincz’s case, declined to comment. Miedema told FOX 17 the prosecution is considering filing one-year misdemeanor charges for marijuana possession against Lorincz.

 

“We’re going to hope it’s over, we’re going to hope they’re going to re-evaluate their case and end it so we can move on, and Max can move on with his life,” said Komorn.

Here is a series of stories of background on Lorincz’s case:

 

Drug felonies without credible proof? Emails spell out allegations of misreporting marijuana in MSP crime labs

 

Former MSP Forensic Science Director told FOX 17 he resigned over politicking in labs

 

Nov. 5 evidentiary hearing adjourned until Jan. 22

 

Medical marijuana battle: Father fights for custody of his son

 

A permanency planning hearing for Lorincz to regain custody of his son was heard in Ottawa County Probate Court Friday afternoon. Judge Mark Feyen said he was “90 percent” ready to reunite the family going into the hearing, but continued supervised visits until the next hearing which will be set within the next two months.

 

Officials with the Michigan State Police and the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan continue to deny these allegations: that politics influenced the way their crime labs report the origin of marijuana extracts on reports. The MSP has repeatedly denied FOX 17’s requests for interviews.

 

Posted 10:30 AM, January 22, 2016, by Dana Chicklas, Updated at 06:30pm, January 25, 2016

 

Stay with FOX 17 for developments on this case.

 

Letter – From A Chicago Doctor Regarding Painkillers

Letter – From A Chicago Doctor Regarding Painkillers

Marijuana could help end America’s painkiller problem

I have been a practicing physician in the Chicago land area for more than 30 years with a specialty in pain medicine. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention draws attention to the fact that Illinois must allow patients the opportunity to choose cannabis over highly addictive and sometimes deadly prescription drugs.

 

Opioids and narcotics remain the primary drugs for treating chronic pain despite their dangerous side effects. According to the CDC, 44 people die each day from prescription drug painkiller overdose, and health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers in 2012. This epidemic is disproportionately affecting women, with a more than 400 percent increase in painkiller overdose deaths since 1999.

 

Cannabis has a critical role in treating pain, has minimal toxicity and presently no risk of lethal overdose. THC has been shown to be anti-inflammatory, and there are cannabinoids receptors in the same areas of the brain that are shown to have changes in chronic pain.

 

In the Journal of the American Medical Association, the 2015 study “Cannabinoids for Medical Use” reports there was a 30 percent reduction of pain with the use of cannabinoids. Furthermore, Clinical Journal of Pain, in the article “Cannabinergic Pain Medicine,” reported that 71 percent of the clinical studies examined found cannabinoids were associated with pain-relieving effects.

 

Like all present medication, cannabinoids are not the cure for chronic pain. However, it is a highly effective pain-management tool that is a safer alternative to many prescription drugs. The Illinois Department of Public Health and Gov. Bruce Rauner must allow physicians the opportunity to use medical cannabis as an effective treatment option.

 

— Dr. Marc Sloan, Deerfield, Pain Management Consultants

Copyright © 2016, Chicago Tribune

 

 

Southfield attorneys accuse MSP Crime Lab of negligence and incompetence

Southfield attorneys accuse MSP Crime Lab of negligence and incompetence

Two local attorneys have filed a formal complaint against the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, suggesting the agency should be made into an independent entity, but state officials have refuted the accusations of negligence and incompetence.

 

Southfield-based attorneys Neil Rockind and Michael Komorn filed the complaint with Gerry LaPorte, the director of the National Institute of Justice, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences in Washington D.C.

 

In it, the attorneys accuse the lab of negligence and incompetence, resulting in “findings, integrity and reliability that are in serious doubt,” a press release states.

Michigan State Police find “the claims of this small group of defense attorneys wholly without merit,” according to a statement.

 

The attorneys accuse the lab of allowing prosecutors to control reporting regarding whether marijuana is natural or synthetic, leading to basic misdemeanors being elevated to felonies for possession or manufacture of synthetic marijuana, the attorneys said.

 

“Compromising forensic science as a matter of course in order to support a felony prosecution is abhorrent and illegal,” Rockind said.

 

“(The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan) is interfering with the reporting of scientific results, revealing a co-dependence between the association and the crime lab that is antithetical to independent and objective forensic reporting.”

 

The forensic science division of the Michigan State Police changed its policy for reporting marijuana and THC in 2013 “in an effort to standardize reporting practices … and to ensure laboratory reports only include findings that can be proved scientifically,” MSP officials said.

 

“With the influx of synthetic drugs into the laboratory system, it became necessary to ensure reporting standards were in place across all labs. As is common practice in the (Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division), involved laboratory personnel were given the opportunity to discuss the proposed changes and provide their insight before a final decision was made by laboratory leadership.”

 

Ultimately, it was decided that the phrase “origin unknown” would be used for samples where it could not be scientifically proven that the THC originated from plant-based material.

 

“For example, if a sample is submitted to the lab that is clearly from a plant-based source, the results will indicate the sample is marijuana,” officials said.

 

“If it is not clear that the submitted sample is from a plant-based source because it is an extract, residue or another compound with no visible plant matter, then the report will indicate whether or not THC —— the illegal component of the sample —— is present, but the source of the THC will not be identified because the source cannot be scientifically established.” In such an instance, the sample would be listed as “origin unknown.”

 

Michigan State Police clarified the situation in July, amending the “origin unknown” phrase to say “The origin of delta-1-tetrahydrocannabinol may be from a plant (marihuana) or a synthetic source,” officials said.

 

The decision was made in the best interest of science, according to Michigan State Police.

 

“The allegation that politics or influence from any outside entity played a role in this policy change is wholly untrue,” officials said.

 

“Further, the MSP rejects the allegation that an internal policy change to ensure standardization regarding how test results are reported rises to the level of negligence or misconduct. As in all criminal cases, the charging decision rests with the prosecutor who makes their decision based upon all the relevant evidence in a case, of which the laboratory report is but one factor.”

The attorneys’ complaint also accuses the lab of under-reporting of uncertainty in blood alcohol analysis, as well as a failure to analyze and scientifically establish a limit of detection for analytes, including THC, over-criminalizing the presence of any amount of a Schedule I substance in an operator’s system while driving.

 

“Our formal letter of complaint is intended to launch a serious and objective review of the practices of the crime lab by the National Institute of Justice,” Rockind said.

In the complaint, the attorneys suggest that the crime lab should be separated from the state police.

 

“Ultimately, the crime lab must be made an independent entity and brought out from underneath the very law enforcement agency that collects the evidence and seeks prosecution: the Michigan State Police,” states the complaint, which calls for a sound audit and an investigation.

 

“The importance of this investigation is vital,” the complaint states.

 

“Without accountability the lab has no check to try to ensure quality assurance practices are followed and not just discussed to the public via general statements and in court.”

 

 

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20160112/southfield-attorneys-accuse-msp-crime-lab-of-negligence-and-incompetence

 

 

About the Author

Dave Phillips covers courts for The Oakland Press, having earlier covered the police beat. Reach the author at dave.phillips@oakpress.com or follow Dave on Twitter: @ByDavePhillips

Forensic scientists blast State Police crime lab THC policy as man fights to get son back

Forensic scientists blast State Police crime lab THC policy as man fights to get son back

Maxwell Lorincz lives in Spring Lake near Lake Michigan with his wife and their six-year-old son. At least, they did live with their son, until a year and a half ago.

 

They lost custody of him after Lorincz was charged with a felony for possessing synthetic THC. He’s a card-carrying medical marijuana patient. But that hasn’t helped in his fight to get his son back.

 

So for now, the family gets unsupervised visits for a few hours every week.

“Normally after he leaves we pick up his room. But the last few times, he’s gotten a little upset when we do, so we’ve been trying to leave his characters right where he left them every time he leaves,” Lorincz says as he and his wife Erica Chittenden stand in their son Dante’s bedroom, which is messy with toys strewn all over the place.

Lorincz says taking marijuana in concentrated oil form is the best way to help his severe back pain, the result of a work-related accident.

 

In 2014, Chittenden needed medical attention, so they called 9-1-1. A police officer arrived with paramedics. The officer found a lid in their home with a small amount of residue from marijuana oil on it.

 

“He picked it up and asked what it was. And I told him. He took it and said that they were going to take it for testing,” said Lorincz.

 

The way the State Police crime lab handled that sample is one reason Lorincz is having a hard time getting his son back.

 

In 2013, the Michigan State Police quietly changed a policy at its crime labs.

It instructed its lab technicians to change how they handle samples containing THC. That’s the chemical in marijuana responsible for its psychological effects.

 

It used to be that if it was obvious that a crime lab sample came from a marijuana plant, the lab report would say that. Now, unless there’s visible plant material in the sample, the lab must say the origin is unknown.

 

That’s important. It means prosecutors can pursue felony charges because they can argue in court that the drugs police found are synthetic. Possessing synthetic THC carries tougher penalties than possessing marijuana from a plant. It’s the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor.

 

The Michigan Public Radio Network first reported on the policy change and Lorincz’s case in October.

 

The Ottawa County Prosecutor’s office has not responded to multiple requests for comment about Lorincz’s case.

 

A number of forensic scientists are now speaking out against the policy, saying there’s no way most or any of the samples in question contain synthetic THC.

 

“It is unreasonable to make any qualifying statements that this stuff might be synthetic. It is not a reasonable scientific conclusion that one could reach,” said Dr. Jay Siegel, a professor emeritus of forensic science at Michigan State University who has worked in crime labs across the country.

 

Sigel also instructed many technicians in the State Police crime lab, including its current director who oversaw the implementation of the THC policy.

 

He says samples that come from marijuana hold obvious clues – such as other chemicals that come from marijuana plants. He says those would be extremely difficult if not impossible to create in a lab – and there’s no reason anyone would want to.

Siegel says the only explanation he can come up with for the policy change is political pressure.

 

“And if that’s the case, that’s deplorable. All the things I ever taught those students was that you have to be a scientist here. You have to be true to the science and not the political or any other kind of pressure,” he said.

 

The former director of the state crime lab agrees.

 

“You’re really getting into an ugly area that really gets into professional ethics as far as the reporting of testing results. And my understanding is, having looked at this, is that that line was crossed,” said John Collins, who is also a former student of Siegel’s.

 

Collins says he quit as head of the crime lab in part because of what he calls “tremendous” pressure from prosecutors to present evidence in a way that’s beneficial to them.

 

“There are some that really I think view forensic science as being a prosecution business as opposed to a science business,” he said.

 

Lorincz’s lawyer and several other criminal defense attorneys have formally requested a federal review of the crime lab policy, and hope it will be struck down.

 

“The lab specifically changed their policy to report these things in a way that they could arrest patients or caregivers, instead of honoring the protections of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. And that is what this case turned into,” said Michael Komorn, who is representing Lorincz in both his criminal and child custody cases.

 

Komorn uncovered State Police e-mails through a Freedom of Information Act request that show internal debate about whether to adopt the policy. His associates provided the documents to the Michigan Public Radio Network in October.

 

Some lab technicians were adamantly against the policy switch.

 

“It is unreasonable to make any qualifying statements that this stuff might be synthetic.

It is not a reasonable scientific conclusion that one could reach.”

 

“This could lead to the wrong charge of possession of synthetic THC and the ultimate wrongful conviction of an individual. For the laboratory to contribute to this possible miscarriage of justice would be a huge black eye for the Division and the Department,” said Lansing crime lab Controlled Substances Unit Supervisor Bradley Choate in an email to colleagues.

 

Choate pointed out in an e-mail that the lab’s guiding principles state “that ‘Conclusions are based on the evidence and the reference material relevant to the evidence, not on extraneous information, political pressure, or other outside influences.’”

 

Many others in the correspondence appeared to back the policy change.

 

“…other cannablnoids [sic] *can* be manufactured synthetically, just as THC can be,” wrote Inspector John Bowen with MSP’s Quality Assurance & Technical Development division.

 

“Is it likely that someone went to the trouble to manufacture THC and two other cannabinoids, mix them up, and bake them into a pan of brownies? Of course not. That doesn’t mean we should change the results to show we found Marijuana. We didn’t, because Marijuana is a plant, and we didn’t find plant parts.”

 

“I’m just hoping to get this law clarified and get our son back.”

 

When asked for comment for this piece, a State Police spokesperson said the department did not want to “dignify (the) allegations with any interviews.” But she said the policy change was needed to create consistency between all of its labs across the state. And she said it’s up to prosecutors to decide which charges to pursue.

 

The documents uncovered by Komorn show clearly that an employee of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) offered advice in favor of the policy switch. But PAAM says it did not direct or pressure the lab to adopt it.

 

Meanwhile, Max Lorincz and his wife say they just want the whole ordeal to be over.

 

“I’m just hoping to get this law clarified and get our son back.”

Listen to the Radio Broadcast

Hear how a change in state police testing policy is having far-reaching effects

 

By Jake Neher Jan 18, 2016