cannabisnews.com: Judge Fears Pot Ruling Illegal 










  Judge Fears Pot Ruling Illegal 

Posted by FoM on May 25, 2001 at 13:31:03 PT
By Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau Chief  
Source: Stockton Record 

Two Wallace ministers sentenced to probation for marijuana possession and given the green light to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes must return to court next week because a Calaveras County Superior Court judge fears the probation terms he approved are illegal. Ricky Dewayne Garner, 43, and Sue Melinda Garner, 40, pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of possessing more than an ounce of marijuana as part of a plea bargain endorsed by Judge Douglas Mewhinney. 
But it's possible those pleas could be withdrawn and the matter set for trial again, depending on the outcome of a hearing set for a week from today. Mewhinney essentially believes he could be aiding and abetting a federal felony by approving the probation terms that would allow the Garners to grow marijuana for themselves and those in their care. In exchange for pleading guilty to the misdemeanor marijuana-possession charges, the Garners, ministers of the Northern Lights Church, were placed on two years' court probation and agreed to give up their right to be free of searches. They also agreed to abide by medical-marijuana guidelines the county Board of Supervisors adopted last year to help law enforcement, county agencies and individuals implement Proposition 215. Those guidelines allow for six marijuana plants and 2 pounds for each person who has a doctor's recommendation for medicinal marijuana use. Proposition 215, approved by state voters in 1996, allows people suffering from certain medical conditions to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. It also states that marijuana possession and cultivation laws do not apply to a legitimate medical-marijuana patient or the patient's primary caregiver. A primary caregiver is a person who has consistently assumed responsibility for a medical-marijuana patient's housing, health or safety. The Garners were charged with felony marijuana cultivation after law enforcement agents raided their property last year and found 290 marijuana plants. The Garners claimed they were growing marijuana for themselves and more than a dozen other members of their congregation, all of whom had doctors' recommendations. The two were ordered to stand trial on the felony charges and the trial was scheduled to start Wednesday. But they agreed to the terms of a plea bargain Monday and Mewhinney pronounced their sentences the same day. But Mewhinney called the Garners' attorneys and Seth Matthews, a deputy district attorney, on Tuesday and conducted a conference call, during which he outlined his concerns. Those concerns largely stemmed from the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, by distributing medicinal marijuana, was not exempt from prosecution under federal drug laws. * To reach Lode Bureau Chief Francis P. Garland at: garnel goldrush.com Source: Record, The (CA)Author: Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau Chief Published: May 25, 2001Copyright: 2001 The RecordContact: editor recordnet.comWebsite: http://www.recordnet.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Northern Lights Churchhttp://northernlightschurch.org/OCBC Versus The US Governmenthttp://www.freedomtoexhale.com/mj.htmMinisters' Pot Trial Delayed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9661.shtmlJudge Orders Pot-Growing Preachers To Stand Trialhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8078.shtml

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Comment #2 posted by rbded on May 26, 2001 at 06:40:48 PT
Court Recalling 
  What the hell.Isn't this double jeopardy or something.The voters (us)vote and if the government doesn't like it,they interperate it anyway they want to.I'm not surprised that it happened.What should be done is that they should put this case on the national news and see what the american people really think about it.They won't though because they would be blown out of the water over this one.What a bunch of morons.
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on May 25, 2001 at 17:42:50 PT:
The Feds plan, revealled
Rather than showing up at the Clubs with their SturmAbteilung in full regalia, they are trying to intimidate the caregivers through the courts.The antis know that to have their Darth Vader wannabes publicly pitching visibly sick and weak patients into paddy-wagons won't sit well on the evening news. The historical parallels ("Achtung, Judenscheisse! Zis vay to der showers!") would be so obvious even a Special Olympian would get it. So, like always, they try to take the 'low road'...like in 'low as a snake's belly'. They are doing their level best to keep this out of the public's eye (out of sight, out of mind, right?). They seek to use the recent Federal decision aginst the Clubs as if it were a decision against the State of California's law on cannabis in toto - which it isn't at all. But they hope that if they can establish a precedent, they can fool the public into accepting the false idea as true. So, they are now trying to use courts to intimidate patients and caregivers. This is where I hope the lawyers step in and make a very public stink. Because so long as the antis can play their dirty little games behind the public's back, they'll get away with it.
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