|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
US: Sheriff ordered to return hash Tiffany Revelle Ukiah Daily Journal Saturday 10 Oct 2009 Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ronald Brown signed the order, which was filed Oct. 1, after he dismissed the case against Shelton Rain Sutherland, 29, and John Bennett Henderson, 34, in July. According to court documents, Brown ruled "there would not have been probable cause for a (search) warrant." "We return marijuana with court orders all the time," Allman said, adding that cases where hash is returned are rare. He still has the hash patties that were seized, and said he plans to follow the court order and arrange a time with the defendants to give them back. The flat, hard patties are each less than a quarter-inch thick, about as big around as a baseball, and appear to have been made by pouring a concentrated, liquid form of marijuana into a mold. The patties each weigh about 27 grams, a little less than an ounce. Henderson and Sutherland will receive 32 patties because the legal amount for a marijuana patient to have at the time of the seizure was eight ounces, according to the order, and four doctors' recommendations were admitted as evidence in the case. Addressing whether hash is legal, Allman referred to an opinion former state Attorney General Bill Lockyer gave in October 2003 at the request of former Mendocino County Sheriff Anthony Craver. Craver asked if hash were included in the meaning of the term "marijuana" as it is used in the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. Lockyer said it was. Deputies arrested Sutherland and Henderson after a compliance check on Aug. 7, 2008, that led to a search warrant at Sutherland's home in the 13000 block of Tomki Road. Authorities seized more than 100 marijuana plants, 12 pounds of dried marijuana, 160 hash patties and $20,000 in cash. Sutherland was arrested the same day on suspicion of cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of concentrated cannabis. Major Crimes Task Force Special Agent Raymond Hendry arrested her, according to the sheriff's booking log. Henderson was arrested Sept. 26, 2008, on suspicion of cultivating marijuana and possessing marijuana for sale. According to his booking information, he was arrested by Correctional Officer William Hardman. They were charged together, and defense attorney Omar Figueroa defended them, along with renowned attorney J. Tony Serra, both from San Francisco. Figueroa argued the deputies didn't reveal evidence in the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant that Sutherland and others in her home had tried to present doctors' recommendations for the marijuana. Figueroa argued in his motion for the county to return the marijuana that it was for medical use, and produced copies of four doctors' recommendations for Sutherland, Henderson, Michael Carter and Todd Moore. William Kroger, a Los Angeles defense attorney specializing in marijuana cases, said he's been able to get all of his cases involving hash dismissed using Lockyer's opinion. He argues in court that eight ounces of marijuana is equal to eight ounces of medical cannabis, and state law allows a person to have eight ounces if they have a doctor's recommendation. "When you manufacture hash, you're changing one form of the plant to another form of the plant," Kroger said. He added that most of his clients used butane as a solvent to extract the resin and oil from the stems, leaves and seeds of the plant in a concentrated, liquid form. Using butane makes the process dangerous, according to Kroger, and Allman agrees. Allman said that also makes manufacturing hash illegal, because it is a chemical drug manufacturing process, prohibited under state law. "You're allowed to have it, but you're not allowed to make it," Kroger said. Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@pacific.net, or at 468-3523. http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_13532397
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!