Award winning Attorney Michael Komorn owner and Trial Attorney for his firm Komorn Law PLLC is based out of Farmington Hills, Michigan. Know for his tenacity in the courtroom and endless energy to fight, Michael travels throughout the state defending clients in all types of criminal cases, DUI and drug casework.
Michael has deep activist and advocacy roots in the cannabis community fighting for the rights of medical marijuana patients, caregivers and corporations.
If you are looking for a defense lawyer to go on the offense – then you want to hire this attorney. Learn More
YPSILANTI, MI – Less than four months after a company sued Ypsilanti over the city’s marijuana business licensing process, the company has dropped the legal claims.
AMA Operations, LLC — a company that sought one of 10 local marijuana retailer permits — alleged in a lawsuit filed in December the process the city used to dole out the permits broke Michigan law and resulted in “preferential treatment” for competitors.
The company took issue with a scoring system used to rank applicants and sought a court order to nullify some competitors’ permits.
Oct 06, 2021YPSILANTI, MI – Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park will play host to the fourth-ever state-sanctioned cannabis consumption festival this weekend. Of-age attendees at Canna Jam can enjoy …
Jan 13, 2020LANSING, MI — Multiple defense attorneys say they would advise their clients refuse Michigan’s new statewide roadside drug tests. They’re too untrustworthy, they say. The …
Mar 30, 2021Roadside drug tests piloted in Michigan last year can’t immediately tell police if a driver is high, but they are expected to detect recent ingestion …
Mar 30, 2020ANN ARBOR, MI — The Hash Bash marijuana rally that was supposed to happen this Saturday in Ann Arbor is postponed until fall, but organizers …
DISCLAIMER This post may contain re-posted content, opinions, comments, ads, third party posts, outdated information, posts from disgruntled persons, posts from those with agendas and general internet BS. Therefore…Before you believe anything on the internet regarding anything – do your research on Official Government and State Sites, Call the Michigan State Police, Check the State Attorney General Website and Consult an Attorney – Use Your Brain.
AP) — Judges can’t prevent people from using medical marijuana while on probation for a crime, the Michigan Court of Appeals said.
Anyone holding a state-issued medical marijuana card is immune to possible penalties, the appeals court said, 3-0.
The court, however, cautioned that the decision does not apply to the recreational use of marijuana, which was approved by voters in 2018.
Michael Thue was barred from using medical marijuana while on probation for a year in a road rage incident in the Traverse City area. A District Court judge said the marijuana ban was the policy of Circuit Court judges in Grand Traverse County.
Circuit Judge Thomas Power declined to hear an appeal.
The appeals court said Power made the wrong call, based on a line of decisions from the Michigan Supreme Court and the language of the medical marijuana law.
The law “preempts or supersedes ordinances and statutes that conflict” with it, said judges Mark Cavanagh, Deborah Servitto and Thomas Cameron.
The Attorney
Medical marijuana patients have had their doctor recommended use of cannabis while on probation in limbo for a long time.
As many battles for marijuana patients, caregivers and business clients represented by the Komorn Law Firm loom in the background – a decision has been made to set the tone for future cases involving those on probation.
“This opinion says the law is the law,” said Komorm, who represented the appellant in the case, “and we’re going to make the ruling that the Medical Marijuana Act and the card associated with the patient protect them from … penalty of any kind.”
It’s taken 13 years, but Michigan courts are finally fully recognizing the rights instilled by the 2008 voter-passed Medical Marijuana Act, said Farmington Hills-based defense attorney.
In Komorn’s opinion, although the ruling doesn’t address the issue, the precedent should also apply to parolees or defendants on bond with release conditions that prohibit legal medical marijuana use.
The unanimous ruling issued in writing Thursday by Court of Appeals judges Mark J. Kavanaugh, Deborah A. Servitto and Thomas C. Cameron determined Medical marijuana law “supersedes” contradicting laws empowering judges to limit a wide array legal activity, such as alcohol consumption.
And that’s because of “specific language” in the ballot initiative voters passed prohibits any penalty for compliant use of medical marijuana, Komorn said. Despite that, Komorn said judges frequently, especially in Grand Traverse County where the case arose, impose marijuana probation restrictions on registered patients.
DISCLAIMER This post may contain re-posted content, opinions, comments, ads, third party posts, outdated information, posts from disgruntled persons, posts from those with agendas and general internet BS. Therefore…Before you believe anything on the internet regarding anything – do your research on Official Government and State Sites, Call the Michigan State Police, Check the State Attorney General Website and Consult an Attorney – Use Your Brain.
Lorincz lost custody of his 6-year-old son in part due to this felony.
After reporting on the case over nine months, FOX 17 exclusively reported a shocking email chain that spans months between Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division employees and the Attorney General’s office.
Obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, these emails show debates on how the state’s crime labs changed how they report marijuana. The defense, attorney Michael Komorn and Komorn Law, PLLC, is charging state agencies with directing the lab employees to falsely present results on marijuana products, including cases where plant material is not seen.
The result: felony charges Komorn argues are lies.
Komorn showed evidence in emails that MSP Forensic Science Division is being directed by the Attorney General’s office and the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) to change the way marijuana is reported to create felonies. PAAM is a non-profit, which is governed by a board of directors including the Attorney General.
“What is unique about this case is that they [the prosecution] are relying on the lab to report these substances so that they can escalate these crimes from misdemeanors to felonies,” said Komorn.
Documents obtained via FOIA, showcase emails about meetings (for instance, July 2013) and direct communication between MSP Forensic Science Division directors, scientists, PAAM, as well as officials with the AG’s office.
An excerpt from an email dated Dec. 13, 2013 suggests an AG official influenced the state crime labs on whether it is the lab’s responsibility to determine if THC tested is natural or synthetic; again, this is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony.
A technical leader of controlled substances with MSP crime labs wrote an email to colleagues and quoted Ken Stecker, an official with the AG’s office:
“That is my opinion, THC is a schedule 1 drug regardless of where it comes from. I hope that helps. Ken”
Then, the technical leader of controlled substances at a state lab continues to direct other state lab personnel and write:
“Examiner’s that are identifying food products or other non-plant materials as marihuana without the visualization of any plant material should discontinue this practice. The final identification of all phases of testing can only be marihuana when plant fragments, portions, samples, plant hairs or actual plants are visualized by the scientist. To my knowledge, the only other two laboratories that have expressed this concern are Northville and Lansing.”
Komorn believes this policy change is not science-based.
“This is like a political decision, and somewhere in there they say well Ken Stecker is going to be the consultant on this going forward, and his position is that THC is a schedule 1,” said Komorn.
“That’s not the law. That’s an incorrect, illegal misinterpretation of the law that he then decrees as the policy for the state lab.”
This AG official’s “opinion” was written into lab procedure. Several emails show other MSP lab supervisors and scientists vehemently oppose it.
For example, a MSP Lansing controlled substances supervisor wrote his disagreements with this policy to colleagues, including an excerpt from an email dated Feb. 14, 2014:
“Prosecutor’s rely on our reports to determine what to charge a person with. A report that states delta-1-THC without any other statement would lead a Prosecutor to the synthetic portion of the law since this is the only place where THC is specifically listed. 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.”
This supervisor wrote further concerns in an email to many colleagues nearly one year later, dated Jan. 28, 2015, writing in part:
“Upon reading this correspondence I immediately thought about the Guiding Principles training we receive yearly. Under Professionalism it states that “Conclusions are based on the evidence and reference material relevant to the evidence, not on extraneous information, political pressure, or other outside influences.” Whether or not an individual has a medical marijuana card is immaterial to how we report out our results.
When we made the previous changes I made it very apparent that I did not agree with it. One of my concerns was that by reporting out THC instead of marihuana it would lead to Prosecutors charging people with synthetic THC. This appears to be what the agency wants.”
Another MSP Northville lab scientist wrote the following to colleagues, stating concerns with new reporting policy:
“In order to place the actual compound THC in schedule 1, the criteria of ‘synthetic equivalent’ should be met. Since we really can’t do this, there are many of us who feel that these new evidentiary materials containing THC without any botanical morphology characteristics (candy, butter, etc..) should be identified as resinous extracts of Marihuana.
If you are to call it ‘THC,’ at a minimum, a statement should be provided in the additional information stating that the ‘origin, whether naturally occurring or synthetic could not be determined.’ Also, by going out on that limb and calling it THC, you now jump from a misdemeanor to a felony charge.
We’re bringing this up because there seemed to be some concern about uniformity in making these calls. Further, it is highly doubtful that any of these Med. Mar. products we are seeing have THC that was synthesized. This would be completely impractical. We are more likely seeing naturally occurring THC extracted from the plant!”
“The most damning evidence is that their own forensic scientists, when they’re objecting to the way the lab is going to change their reporting policies, calls them out that they can’t do it based on forensic science, and yet they do it anyways,” said Komorn.
Thursday afternoon, the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan’s President Michael Wendling responded to FOX 17’s questions with the following statements:
“The Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division sets its own testing and reporting protocols. Neither PAAM nor county prosecutors make those protocols.”
“The MSP Forensic Science Division makes its own decisions relative to the lab protocol. Any decision to report that the source of THC is undetermined does not create a misdemeanor or felony offense. Lab reports document the findings of scientific testing. Those findings, in conjunction with other relevant evidence are considered by prosecutors may be used in when the decision whether to charge a crime and which crime to charge is made.”
“Prosecutors do not receive requests to charge criminal cases from the MSP Forensic Science Division. The MSP Forensic Division reports scientific findings. Prosecutors receive those reports and use them to make decisions regarding whether there is sufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges. Any accusation that the Lab and PAAM are directing lab personnel to report crimes without evidence is untrue. PAAM has no authority over, nor does it direct the MSP Forensic Science Division.”
Yet again in this case, several lab scientists and supervisors expressed they are against this new marijuana reporting protocol.
As FOX 17 reported, the defense filed several motions in Ottawa County Circuit Court this week. The motions ask for Max Lorincz’s charges to be dismissed, as well as asking the accused organizations’ employees to show cause, or credible evidence to show science backs their protocol, in order to not be held in contempt of court.
Statement from First Natural Wellness, in conjunction with Komorn Law regarding telemedicine for medical marijuana
ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/
Michigan medical marijuana physicians, attorneys, patients, and their caregivers called on Governor Gretchen Whitmer to provide urgent and swift action via an executive order to allow certifying physicians the emergency capabilities to certify patients via telemedicine.
In times of need, communities stand
together to defend the weak. Komorn Law, First Natural Wellness, and the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA) is comprised of stakeholders and
citizens who are urging Governor Whitmer to take the COVID-19 pandemic
seriously by allowing physicians to provide telemedicine consultations for
patients who need medical cannabis therapy.
The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act
(“MMMA”) provides immunities for physicians to recommend medical
cannabis, and immunities for patients to engage in the medical use of
marijuana. The MMMA, as with other expectations of licensed physicians in Michigan,
requires that a bona fide relationship exist between the physician and the
patient. In April of 2012 (2012 PA 2012 512) the Legislature in Michigan by
a Super Majority vote amended the MMMA (2012 Public Act 512) to specifically
define the term “bona fide physician-patient relationship.” The
amendment to the MMMA created and defined the term “Bona Fide” as
follows:
(a) “Bona fide physician-patient
relationship” means a treatment or counseling relationship between a
physician and patient in which all of the following are present:
(1) The physician has reviewed the patient’s relevant medical records and
completed a full assessment of the patient’s medical history and current
medical condition, including a relevant, in-person, medical
evaluation of the patient.
Patient-Caregiver-Coalition (see details at end of article)
Said another way, only physicians
who interact with medical marijuana patients are required to meet in person and
or are precluded from those interactions occurring via telemedicine.
Legislators who lobbied for this
face-to-face requirement in the law were simultaneously approving telemedicine
visits for insurance reimbursements for almost every other medical visit except
medical marijuana consultations.
Many of the 300,000 Medical cannabis
patients are the sickest patients in the State. They have some of the most
severe conditions for physicians to evaluate, including Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Hep
C, Arthritis, and Glaucoma just to name part of the qualifying conditions list.
These are the sickest people in the state, and current law mandates that these
patients interact with their physicians in person. In light of the COVID-19
pandemic and the State of Emergency our Governor declared for the State of
Michigan, we are demanding that our state officials address this issue. This
enormous population of medical marijuana patients and their physicians are
currently being overlooked and ignored. Putting aside the
unexplained stigma excluding medical marijuana patients and doctors from
telemedicine, the existing policy is subjecting an enormous population of sick
patients and their physicians to a dangerous and irrational policy, arguably
which should never have existed.
Now is the time to urge Governor Gretchen Whitmer to protect all of our citizens, including patients and physicians. Please call Governor Whitmer’s office at 517-373-3400 or 517-335-7858 and urge her to let physicians provide medical marijuana certifications via telemedicine services immediately.
Komorn Law and the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association have been at the forefront of the legal battles and in the trenches fighting fo patient, caregiver and physician rights since 2008. We are still fighting at this very moment to keep the caregiver system working while others are tryin to end it. So get on the lit to be notified as soon as the “pandemic” is over.
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