During a trial against hemp farmers in Wyoming, a key witness for the prosecution blatantly lied while under oath, twice. A Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) agent lied about seeing proper testing results. The results showed the farmer’s crop tested below the THC legal limit in Wyoming. In Wyoming, hemp is defined as containing less than 0.3 percent of any THC, not just Delta 9 in the federal definition.
Of the 10 sample crops DCI tested, nine remained under the legal limit of less than 0.3 percent. The one outlier tested at 0.6 percent of total THC count. Because the crop was over 0.3 percent, it exceeded the federal limits. The DCI subsequently raided the farm and removed hemp products and plants from the farm.
History
The hemp farm in question is owned by Debra Palm-Egle and her son Joshua. They hired a contract farmer named Brock Dyke to manage part of the field with them. Brock was the one present on the day of the raid. Mr. Dyke is also the one who showed DCI agent John Briggs the results showing his plants remained under the 0.3 percent limit.
However, later in court, Agent Briggs lied and said yes, the test results were above the legal limit. This is why he confiscated the products. The Egle family hired a Defense Attorney named Tom Jubin.
Defense
Mr. Jubin sent an email to Attorney Singleton after finding out about Agent Briggs’ lie about not seeing the test results under 0.3 percent. He asked that the statement be made correct for the jury for an accurate and correct statement of the witness’s statement. However nothing came back and no changes were made to the statement. Text messages were even sent between Agent Briggs and Attorney Singleton making fun of Mr. Jubin, even going as far as to call him “actually insane.”
When brought back for further questioning, Agent Briggs’ didn’t attempt to fix the first lie stated, but again said that the numbers he believed to be true, which are the ones that say all of the products tested had more than 0.3 percent.
Verdict
Attorney Singleton did admit to not correcting Agent Briggs’ statement as well as being aware of the false testimony during the hearing itself. He was charged an $800 fine for administration fees. As for Agent Briggs, it is unknown if he will face consequences at this time.
The case quickly became dismissed after its preliminary hearing in August of 2020. But it took almost nine months before the Wyoming Supreme Court decided to censor Attorney Singleton for his contempt of court.
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