| Photo: The Olympian |
| Olympia City Councilman Joe Hyer pleads not guilty to three marijuana felonies, Tuesday, March 9, 2010 |
Olympia, Washington City Councilman Joe Hyer pleaded not guilty to three marijuana felonies Tuesday, with his attorney suggesting that “a trusted political mentor” entrapped and cajoled Hyer into selling him marijuana twice due to “depression” and “sexual needs.”
“Judge Pomeroy, I plead not guilty to all charges,” Hyer said during his arraignment.
Hyer is charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, each a Class C felony, reports Jeremy Pawloski at The Olympian.
Hyer, 37, was arrested at his home last month by members of the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force after a “confidential informant” wearing a wire bought pot from the councilman twice during “controlled buys” in February, according to court papers.
| Photo: joehyer.com |
| Councilman Joe Hyer: Did he try to live up to his last name? |
Both of the alleged marijuana purchases occurred at Hyer’s home, according to court documents.
A motion to prohibit further pretrial publicity in the case, filed by Hyer’s attorney, Ken Valz, suggests that Hyer knows the identify of the informant to whom he sold marijuana. The motion further suggests that the person is the only one to whom Hyer ever sold pot.
“Based upon investigation by the defense, it appears that there was no ‘confidential informant’ but instead, one person was obtaining marijuana from Mr. Hyer and that person was an older, trusted political mentor of Councilman Hyer,” the motion reads.
“Unknown to Hyer, this ‘friend’ had concealed a criminal background from Hyer and the public during his ‘friendship.’ This ‘friend,’ over a period of several months, lured and induced Councilman Hyer to commit a crime that Hyer would not otherwise commit except for the influence of this ‘friend,’ ” the motion reads.
“This ‘friend was able to persuade Hyer to transfer marijuana to this ‘friend’ by persuading Hyer that this ‘friend’ needed the marijuana due to the ‘friend’s’ ‘depression’ and ‘sexual needs,'” the motion continues. “Based upon defense allegation, it appears that this ‘friend’ was able to persuade, lure and induce Councilman Hyer to transfer no more than a total of less than 14 grams of marijuana during the entire police operation.”
Thurston County Sheriff Dan Kimball claims that law enforcement was alerted to the possibility that Hyer might be “involved in marijuana” after an “anonymous informant” went forward to the sheriff.
Valz’s motion does not say whether Hyer believes the informant who went forward to Sheriff Kimball is the same lowlife to whom Hyer sold marijuana.
Democrat Hyer’s high-profile arrest has already resulted in an unseemly chorus of calls for his resignation from ambitious local Republicans who see an opportunity to make political hay from the councilman’s misfortune.
| Cannabis Defense Coalition |
| Activists in the Olympia, WA area are encouraged to print these posters and distribute them around town. |
A Seattle-based marijuana advocacy group is trying to learn the identity of the “confidential informant” responsible for Hyer’s arrest.
The Cannabis Defense Coalition (CDC) is trying who the “informant” — in reality, a political operative — was who sought retribution against Hyer by making him the focus of a taxpayer-funded marijuana investigation.
“When will our public safety officers return to providing public safety and stop this culture of attacks and manipulative, self-serving ‘investigations’ of the citizenry?” asked medical marijuana patient and activist Ric Smith of Seattle.
If you have any information about the informant, please contact CDC at [email protected] or call toll free (888) 208-5332.
Activists in the Olympia, Washington area are encouraged to print these posters out and distribute them around town:
