Articles Posted in marijuana arrest

According to a recent news article form Review Journal, a Las Vegas jury has just acquitted a medical marijuana patient of the felony drug charges prosecutors pressed. This case, including the trial itself, has garnered a substantial amount of national attention due the fact the general public does not support such a prosecution.

Witnesses say the defendant wept as the clerk of court read the jury verdict. He had been found not guilty of both charges. Witnesses say a few members of the jury itself were actually crying following a reading of the verdict. One of the two charges he had faced for more than three years could have resulted in his being sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in state prison.

Defendant is a 65-year-old medical marijuana patient, and his trial lasted nearly a week. It took jury around one hour to find him not guilty on all counts.

The specific charges filed against defendant were possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. While both counts are actually felonies in that jurisdiction, it was the marijuana with intent to sell charge that could have resulted in significant prison time.
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With an increasing number of states de-criminalizing or even legalizing possession and sale of marijuana for personal use, a number of courts have been asked to decide whether prior convictions for these offenses can be erased.

Most recently, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that people convicted of possessing small amounts of the drug have the right to request erasure of those convictions. The court pointed to the state’s decriminalization of misdemeanor possession of the drug in 2011 as the underlying legal base for the decision.

The law reduced punishment for possession of less than a half ounce of marijuana from a misdemeanor – with the possibility of time behind bars – to a simple violation warranting a fine of between $150 to $500, depending on the number of prior offenses.
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Authorities in Alaska launched a raid on the Alaska Cannabis Club, owned and operated by a former television anchor who resigned on air after announcing she would be devoting herself to marijuana legalization advocacy.

A search warrant produced by authorities prior to the raid indicated they were looking for evidence to support assertions that illegal marijuana sales were taking place on site. The warrant indicated officers were there to search the property and vehicles for cannabis and THC derivatives like edibles, hasish and resins. They were also looking for any forms or electronic statements that might indicate trafficking in controlled substances.

Officers tore through bags and bins on site, uprooted several plants and confiscated computers and paraphernalia. They also impounded two of the vehicles. No arrests were made or charges filed.
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Washington, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier recently spoke out against the legal framework under which officers have been forced to target marijuana consumers in recent years. She decried the system of prohibition for the way it eroded police-community relations, and said the only thing those arrests accomplish is “making people hate us.”

She stated marijuana smokers are far less a problem than drinkers of alcohol. No one who smokes marijuana is going to attack or kill an officer, she said.

“They just want to get a bag of chips and relax,” she said. She later clarified that she doesn’t believe consumption of marijuana is healthy, but added she is not policing the city as a mother and 7 out of 10 voters supported legalization in the city. In terms of public safety, it’s a relatively benign drug with widespread acceptance, which means arrests tend to harm the community more than help it.
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Sheriff offices in Colorado and the neighboring states of Nebraska and Kansas have filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to do away with Amendment 64, the measure that legalized the sale of recreational marijuana, and also to shutter the state’s hundreds of licensed marijuana sellers.

The complaint asserts the state marijuana law directly contradicts the U.S. Constitution and, what’s more, creates an unreasonable financial burden on nearby states and law enforcement agencies within its own borders. The lead complainant in the case is the sheriff of Larimer County, who characterized the lawsuit as a “constitutional showdown.” Each day, he says, he is tasked with deciding whether to violate the state constitution or the federal constitution.

It is true that while marijuana for recreational use was legalized in Colorado at the start of last year, and yet it remains against federal law. The sheriff asks which constitution he should be responsible to uphold.
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Florida is among the handful of states that have yet to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. And yet, a man who was caught growing some 50 plants at his private residence has been acquitted of marijuana manufacture – a third-degree felony in that state, garnering a maximum five years in prison – using the marijuana-as-medicine defense.

It’s the first time in Florida’s history that this defense has been successfully used before a jury. Only two other cases before that have prevailed with the defense, and defendants in those cases were first convicted in a trial-by-judge before their conviction was overturned by the appellate courts.

The case shows just how far we have come in terms of attitudes toward cannabis, which remains, according to federal law, a Schedule I narcotic that is illegal to grow, harvest, sell, distribute or possess.
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Earlier this year, the California Narcotic Officers’ Association left little doubt as to their position on the legalization of marijuana with a training manual entitled, “Marijuana is NOT Medicine.”

So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that in its most recent quarterly newsletter detailing marijuana case law, it is educating officers on the best ways to secure a proper arrest and conviction for low-level marijuana possession during traffic stops. The author of the article, a police officer in Citrus Heights, indicates a driver’s disclosure of a doctor recommendation for medical marijuana is basis enough to justify a warrantless search of the subject vehicle and person.

He goes on to note seven questions which, if answered by the driver and/or passenger, could be used by prosecutors to diminish whatever medical marijuana defense the individual may have. The article also includes information on how to prove whether a person was medicated during work hours, noting that depending on what they do for a living, “an employer may terminate a worker who tests positive for marijuana.”
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In the ever-changing world of medicinal marijuana legislation, it is important to follow all court decisions closely. The People v. Reece J. Clark, a recent case from the Court of Appeal of the State of California Second Appellate District, involved a defendant who pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and possession of a short-barreled shotgun.

The primary issue in the appeal was that the affidavit in support of the warrant showed that defendant possessed and was cultivating marijuana, but it did not state whether the marijuana was possessed and cultivated for medicinal use.

The affidavit in support of the warrant, drafted by an LA County Sheriff’s Deputy, alleged that the affiant was extensively trained by the department and had a considerable amount of field experience in the sale of street level drugs.
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