Not good when DA's call the LAW a joke when it comes to peoples rights....
DA CALLS JUDGE'S ORDER A 'JOKE': PROPOSAL SAYS CONCOW-AREA COLLECTIVE MEMBERS SHOULD GET THEIR MEDICAL POT BACK
OROVILLE -- Prosecutors said they are treating as a "joke" a proposed court order to return hundreds of seized medical marijuana plants to members of a Concow-area collective following a jury acquittal.
A Butte County Superior Court jury last month found a Concow man and his father, Michael and Sean Kelly, not guilty of illegal cultivation and possession of pot for sale.
The pair claimed to be part of a 15-member group of medical marijuana patients that were collectively growing marijuana on two pieces of property the defendants owned.
During two successive raids, sheriff's deputies seized 58 growing plants from one of the sites on Paiute Drive in late 2008 and more than 200 miniature "clone" starter plants about six months later, both from the Paiute site and a second parcel off Jordan Hill Road, also in Concow.
In acquitting the father and son of the felony drug charges, jurors said outside of court they felt the prosecution failed to disprove the defendants were part of a lawful medical marijuana collective.
Michael Kelly was convicted by the same jury of a related misdemeanor charge of obstructing or diverting water from a small creek to irrigate his plants.
Last week his attorney, Jodea Foster of Chico, filed separate motions requesting a new trial on the water diversion charge, contending there was insufficient evidence to show the creek was "substantially" altered by his client.
The defense attorney also sought to have all of the seized marijuana plants returned to the Kellys.
Tuesday, assigned Judge William Lamb, who heard the Kellys' trial, announced he had a proposed order that would allow each member of the Concow medical marijuana collective to receive a proportionate share of the seized marijuana from the Sheriff's Office, where it is currently stored.
The judge agreed to continue the matter three weeks, because Foster was not feeling well and to allow the prosecution time to respond in writing to the defense motions.
Reached for comment, District Attorney Mike Ramsey said because Helen Harberts, who tried the case, is on vacation, another attorney in his office prepared a written response to be filed with the court Tuesday, asserting the jury had ample evidence to convict the son of the water diversion count.
But Ramsey contends that just prior to the morning hearing, Lamb took another prosecutor, Kelly Maloy, who was unfamiliar with the medical marijuana case, into chambers with Foster.
Ramsey said Maloy quoted the judge as stating his proposed order regarding the return of the medical marijuana "was sure to anger everyone," but he assumed "they had a good sense of humor."
"We're taking it as all a joke," Ramsey said of the proposed court order.
Ramsey said that he never looked at it because "I don't want to waste my time on a joke."
He also contends that a court case cited by Foster to support return of the marijuana is "inapplicable."
When the case is recalled on Aug. 11, the district attorney said Harberts will oppose the return of the medical marijuana on grounds that to do so would violate both state and federal law.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n575/a07.html
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Author: Terry Vau Dell, Staff Writer
DA CALLS JUDGE'S ORDER A 'JOKE': PROPOSAL SAYS CONCOW-AREA COLLECTIVE MEMBERS SHOULD GET THEIR MEDICAL POT BACK
OROVILLE -- Prosecutors said they are treating as a "joke" a proposed court order to return hundreds of seized medical marijuana plants to members of a Concow-area collective following a jury acquittal.
A Butte County Superior Court jury last month found a Concow man and his father, Michael and Sean Kelly, not guilty of illegal cultivation and possession of pot for sale.
The pair claimed to be part of a 15-member group of medical marijuana patients that were collectively growing marijuana on two pieces of property the defendants owned.
During two successive raids, sheriff's deputies seized 58 growing plants from one of the sites on Paiute Drive in late 2008 and more than 200 miniature "clone" starter plants about six months later, both from the Paiute site and a second parcel off Jordan Hill Road, also in Concow.
In acquitting the father and son of the felony drug charges, jurors said outside of court they felt the prosecution failed to disprove the defendants were part of a lawful medical marijuana collective.
Michael Kelly was convicted by the same jury of a related misdemeanor charge of obstructing or diverting water from a small creek to irrigate his plants.
Last week his attorney, Jodea Foster of Chico, filed separate motions requesting a new trial on the water diversion charge, contending there was insufficient evidence to show the creek was "substantially" altered by his client.
The defense attorney also sought to have all of the seized marijuana plants returned to the Kellys.
Tuesday, assigned Judge William Lamb, who heard the Kellys' trial, announced he had a proposed order that would allow each member of the Concow medical marijuana collective to receive a proportionate share of the seized marijuana from the Sheriff's Office, where it is currently stored.
The judge agreed to continue the matter three weeks, because Foster was not feeling well and to allow the prosecution time to respond in writing to the defense motions.
Reached for comment, District Attorney Mike Ramsey said because Helen Harberts, who tried the case, is on vacation, another attorney in his office prepared a written response to be filed with the court Tuesday, asserting the jury had ample evidence to convict the son of the water diversion count.
But Ramsey contends that just prior to the morning hearing, Lamb took another prosecutor, Kelly Maloy, who was unfamiliar with the medical marijuana case, into chambers with Foster.
Ramsey said Maloy quoted the judge as stating his proposed order regarding the return of the medical marijuana "was sure to anger everyone," but he assumed "they had a good sense of humor."
"We're taking it as all a joke," Ramsey said of the proposed court order.
Ramsey said that he never looked at it because "I don't want to waste my time on a joke."
He also contends that a court case cited by Foster to support return of the marijuana is "inapplicable."
When the case is recalled on Aug. 11, the district attorney said Harberts will oppose the return of the medical marijuana on grounds that to do so would violate both state and federal law.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n575/a07.html
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Author: Terry Vau Dell, Staff Writer
