4 November 17–23, 2022 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Month XX–Month XX, 2014 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER | Classified | MusiC | dish | Movies | Culture | Night+day | feature | sChutze | uNfair Park | CoNteNts | Pro-Pot Forces Can’t Just Win Despite ballot-box victory, Denton’s fight to decriminalize low- level weed possession continues. By JacoB Vaughn H opes weren’t exactly high for cannabis reform advocates in Texas on election night. Some of their biggest obstacles to statewide reform, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, sealed the deal on ad- ditional terms in office. Proponents would have to settle for smaller victories on the local level in cities like San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, Harker Heights and Denton. All of these cities had propositions on the ballot to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. As with Denton’s Proposition B, these would create city ordinances to halt enforcement of most low-level possession charges, in- cluding citations and arrests. These propositions got overwhelming support from voters at the polls, with about 82% approval in San Marcos, 75% in Elgin, 70% in Killeen, 60% in Harker Heights and 70% in Denton, according to The Texas Tribune. But Denton’s city manager tapped the brakes on all the excitement over these re- sults with a memo that basically said, “We’ll see about your ballot proposition.” “While we continue to be dedicated to serving the community by making mari- juana possession a low priority and recog- nize the statement expressed by voters regarding marijuana enforcement, the pas- sage of Proposition B presents a challenge to the city regarding our ability to implement its provisions,” Denton City Manager Sara Hensley said in a memo to the mayor and City Council. The biggest challenge, Hensley said last week, is that the ballot proposition directly contradicts state and federal law. Texas bars the council and Denton Police Department from adopting rules that can keep them from fully enforcing state and federal drug laws. “While Proposition B imposes explicit prohibitions on the Denton Police Depart- ment’s ability to enforce laws related to low- level marijuana possession, those prohibitions are in direct conflict with, and are superseded by, the Texas Code of Crimi- nal Procedure, which vests police officers with the authority and duty to enforce state law, including the ability to use the smell of marijuana as probable cause to conduct a search or seizure, the right to make an arrest and, where appropriate, the right to issue a citation for the possession of marijuana or drug paraphernalia, regardless of the quan- tity of marijuana,” Hensley said. Hensely added, “In short, the city does not have the authority to implement some provisions of Proposition B without changes to current drug laws by Congress and the Texas Legislature.” Moving forward, the city manager said, the Denton police will be able to keep en- forcing against low-level possession. The proposition also prohibited the city from us- ing funds or personnel to request, conduct or obtain THC testing of any cannabis-re- lated substance. Hensley isn’t sure this will happen either because the city’s charter ex- cludes the appropriation of money through initiative ordinances like Proposition B. The Denton city manager said the city’s police department has already taken steps to deprioritize low-level possession charges and will continue enforcement accordingly. “Going forward, Chief Doug Shoemaker has affirmed that enforcement of marijuana possession will continue to be a low priority for the Denton Police Department,” Hensley said. “However, public safety requires the Police Department’s ability to use the smell and possession of marijuana, regardless of the amount, as well as the possession of drug paraphernalia, as probable cause to conduct further investigation, which as noted above, may lead to more serious crimes being charged, including the possession of a fire- arm and crimes of violence against members of our community.” Hensley told the City Council and staff that she would get back with them on the implementation of Proposition B in three months. But Decriminalize Denton, the main group behind Proposition B, isn’t letting it go down without a fight. “This defiant response from city admin refusing to follow a democratically decided new law is ill advised,” the group said in a statement on social media. “City staff do not have authority to overrule city law. They think Prop B contradicts state law. We dis- agree. But that is for the courts to decide, not hired city staff, and not even city council.” Decriminalize Denton said it will meet with Ground Game Texas, a group that pulled off a similar ordinance in Austin ear- lier this year, to see how to move forward. The group said it would have updates i and congratulated Denton residents for getting Proposition B passed. ▼ Crime Turns ouT, They caughT him Lubbock’s version of frank abagnaLe PLeads guiLty over eLaborate scams to get fLights, Limos and yacht ride . by PatriCk StriCkland C hartered flights, limousine rides, swanky hotel rooms and jaunts on yachts – J. Nicholas Bryant was, at least for a while, living the high life. That is, until authorities caught on to his scheme. Last week, Bryant pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a federal court in front of U.S. Mag- istrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant Jr. Now, the 26-year-old Lubbock resident could wind up in prison for up to two decades. In 2020 and 2021, Bryant admitted in court, he fleeced at least 50 people in an elaborate scheme that involved booking “luxury goods and services” and then ex- ploiting online payment platforms to not pay for them, the U.S. Department of Justice in North Texas said in a release. Using online payment platforms includ- ing QuickBooks and Veem, Bryant was able to schedule payments to the businesses and vendors whose services he booked. But be- fore the payments went through, he’d cancel them and receive the services before the transaction cancellations took effect. Once the companies caught on, Bryant would then ghost them, according to court records. “Like many of his peers, Nicholas Bryant apparently coveted the life of the rich and famous,” U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham said in the news release. “Unlike his peers, he wasn’t about to let a lack of funds get in the way of his fantasy,” Meacham added. “Without the interference of our law enforcement partners, this defen- dant would be well on his way to becoming Lubbock’s Anna Delvey or Frank Abagnale.” Delvey, also known as Anna Sorokin, is a Russian-born scam artist who posed as a wealthy heiress to access the New | unfAiR pARk | Malen Blackmon Wins on the ballot may not come to fruition. >> p6
