Veteran with PTSD goes on trial

http://www.scdailypress.com/site/2017/04/18/veteran-with-ptsd-goes-on-trial/

A decorated Silver City veteran goes on trial today in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces for allegedly growing marijuana and having an unregistered firearm.

Trevor Lee Thayer, a 46-year-old father of three and decorated U.S. Army veteran with the 82nd Airborne, was charged in 2012 after a SWAT-style search of his residence by the DEA and ATF, according to a news release from his defense team at the Bowles Law Firm in Albuquerque.

At that time, Thayer was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome and was in possession of a medical marijuana license, his attorneys said.

Thayer, a Desert Storm veteran, had applied to renew his medical marijuana license and paid a renewal fee, but had apparently not yet received the card at the time of the search. According to his defense team of Bob Gorence and Jason Bowles, further investigation had revealed that the state had cashed Thayer’s check but the equipment for printing the cards in Santa Fe was broken and that delayed the mailing of his card. The charges allege that Thayer did not have a valid medical marijuana card at the time of the 2012 search.

In the 2012 search, authorities also recovered a .22-caliber rifle with a shortened barrel, which made it possible for prosecutors to elevate the charges from a misdemeanor at the state level to the federal level. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms laws, a rifle or shotgun with a barrel shorter than 16 inches is illegal without registration and the payment of a $15 tax stamp.

Thayer has been charged with possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of an unregistered silencer, making an unregistered silencer, manufacturing of marijuana, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime.

Over the last three years, the defense filed two motions that sought to suppress the search and a motion of “vindictive prosecution” accusing the federal prosecutor’s office of malfeasance in excessively charging Thayer and dragging the case through the courts for five years.

The defense plans to present a case to the jury concerning what they say is a vindictive individual who brought the case to investigators for a private motive that resulted in the original 2012 search warrant. That former DEA agent who applied for the search warrant has since been placed under a cloud for his alleged unlawful activities.

They hope to persuade a jury that this case should never have been brought to court in the first place. Many area veterans have expressed concern at the prosecution of a decorated combat veteran suffering from PTSD and who followed the rules allowing him to use cannabis as therapy, the defense team said.

The prosecution did not want to comment on the trial.

“As a matter of policy, DOJ agencies, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office do not comment on cases as they approach trial and until a verdict is announced so as not to affect the jury pool or influence the jury. We therefore respectfully decline to comment at this time,” wrote Elizabeth Martinez, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The trial will be presided over by veteran Judge Robert C. Brack and is open to the public.

Filed under: General Problems