The founders of a southeastern Arizona church that deifies marijuana are now scheduled to go on trial on Feb. 20 in Albuquerque, N.M.Dan and Mary Quaintance had been scheduled to go on trial next Tuesday, but U.S. District Judge Judith C. Herrera on Thursday granted them extra time to prepare. The Quaintances and their lawyers had asked for a 30-day extension in light of Herrera's recent ruling that the Quaintances do not have a "sincere" religious belief.
The Quaintances face criminal charges of possessing more than 100 pounds of marijuana and of conspiracy to distribute it. They were arrested on Feb. 22, 2006, in Lordsburg, N.M. The couple say they don't grow their "sacrament" but rather rely on donations of it, which they pick up from church "couriers." That's what they say they were about to do when they were arrested.
The pair founded their Church of Cognizance in Pima - about 90 miles northeast of Tucson - in 1991. The Quaintances, both in their 50s, each face up to 40 years in federal prison if they are convicted as charged.
Ruling on religious "sincerity" might be the judge's way of 'kicking the case upstairs', to let the appeals court decide.