A grim anniversary: Agro case nears three years

“What keeps me going is the memory of my husband that they basically killed.”- Barb Agro

Some wounds take longer to heal than others. In the case of Barb Agro, the wounds inflicted upon her in Oakland County under the guise of a drug war raid can never heal.

“What keeps me going is the memory of my husband that they basically killed.”

Barb and her son Nick were featured guests on the Planet Green Trees Show (PGT) recently and discussed their cases.  In 2010 Nick and his brother operated ‘Clinical Relief’, a medical marijuana distribution center in Ferndale. The Oakland County Sheriff Department raided Clinical Relief and an unrelated distribution center in August 2010.

As part of the sweep, search warrants were executed on residences belonging to the Clinical Relief management and ownership; those raids involved Nick’s home, his brother’s home, and Barb’s home that she shared with her loving husband Sal. Just days after the raids on their family Sal passed away from a massive heart attack.

Editor’s Note: You can listen to Barb and Nick Agro’s interview recorded live on PGT by using the player at the bottom of this page.

Left without a partner to accompany her, 70-year old Barb’s journey became difficult and stormy; Michigan’s judicial system was struggling with the new definitions of medical and marijuana. Her case included appearances in District Court, Circuit Court and the Appellate Court- and she’s back in the lower courts again.

Her road has been long. “I have a court date for Aug 23rd, whch is almost three years since the raid,” she told the PGT listeners. Barb also told them that this time around, things were going to be different.

Like a force of nature, she creates the storm now.

“The appellate court ruled that Oakland County has to either allow me to have a trial using my medical marijuana card or drop the case,” Barb said.

“The order on remand says they have to set aside the conviction and afford you the opportunity to present a medical marijuana defense,” confirmed show host and Southfield attorney Michael Komorn.

Barb Agro is pushing for the trial she should have had the first time around, and she’s not going to stop until she gets what she wants. She is motivated by the hurt that cannot heal, the loss of her beloved husband Sal.

“I won’t give up for him. He can’t talk, he can’t speak any more. It was so ridiculous what they did and how they did it. I will not give up until my dying breath.”

Her son Nick is in the fight right beside her.

“What has always made our family strong is a belief in the truth,” said Nick. “I know that we have a strong family, I know that we’re persistent and we persevere… the memory of my father, and my family’s name in my community, I’ll continue to fight for that, to my dying breath.”

Barb’s case centers around a small garden she and Sal maintained in an upstairs bedroom of their home. “I had every right to have those plants in my house,” Barb confirms. Because the front door was unlocked when the search warrant was served, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper and Assistant Prosecutor Beth Hand have thrown everything they could at Barb. In some cases, they threw more than they were allowed to.

“It’s (her case is) back in front of Judge Potts,” Barb explained on air. “The appellate court actually slapped her and Beth Hand’s hands by some of the statements that Beth Hand had said in the courtroom when I had my other trial,” where Barb was denied the opportunity to use her medical marijuana patient status as a defense to the charges.

“One statement was, “She (Agro) wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t guilty.” That’s what she (Hand) admonished the court.”

Judge Potts instructed the jury at trial to ask her any questions during the proceedings, as is normal. “Three separate jurors on that trial asked if I was a medical marijuana patient. She looked them in the eyes and said ”I can’t answer that.” So the appellate court was not real pleased with Judge Potts or with Beth Hand,” Barb explained.

Michael Komorn offered a little more detail. “I’m not saying anything negative to sister counsel Beth Hand but the court did make a finding that in fact the conduct that was exhibited during the trial was prosecutorial misconduct,” he confirmed.

“I know that lots of people have taken plea deals in Oakland County because it’s been very hard to get a fair shake in Oakland County,” Nick said.

Barb has had some difficulties in getting a new trial whereby her medical marijuana patient status is revealed to the jury, as was ordered by the Court of Appeals. “They got egg on their face already, I don’t know if they want more egg,” she said.

Nick’s case centers around the search executed on the Clinical Relief business itself. His case was tossed out of court by Oakland County Judge O’Brien, who said the law was too confusing and not well understood at that time to find the business operators guilty.

Regarding the Clinical Relief case, Komorn said, “The dismissal was based upon not anything to do with the Act, it was more based on the law of lenity.”

Cooper has appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, but that was some time ago. “There has not been a ruling (in his case) yet, which is interesting,” Nick observed.

“It’s nonsensical the way the state has approached it,” said Nick. “Then you look at a county like Oakland county and the way that they want to pursue and prosecute (marijuana offenses), it’s saddening because I am certain that’s not the intent of the people who voted for the act.”

Both Agros are facing more courtrooms- the Clinical Relief case was dismissed but is active at the Appellate level, and Barb Agro is allowed to clear her name before a jury under supposedly fair circumstance. The roads before them still stretch far into the distance.

“I anticipate that it will probably take another 300-600 days to get it figured out, potentially. Oakland County is not going to let go of that bone,” Nick said. “The way I see that they have treated my mother in her case, with the appeals, and I assume they have an unlimited budget to probably spend within that county and they have a department that just does appeals-“

“I would love to know how much money has been spent on my case alone,” interrupted Barb. “No wonder they have to do all this confiscating money…it’s ridiculous.”