In what may be the first case of its kind in state history, a Healdsburg man whose marijuana was stolen in a home-invasion robbery will be allowed to seek restitution from the defendants. “It certainly does represent a milestone,” said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland advocacy group for medical marijuana users. “I appreciate the court recognizing this as a lawful substance. Victims should be compensated.” But just how much Michael Steffens’ weed is worth will be open to debate, Paul Payne reports in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. His [...]
The California Supreme Court has again jumped into the fray over the legality of medical marijuana laws, deciding this week to review two lower-court rulings that affect how and whether local governments can regulate pot dispensaries across the state. In their weekly closed-door session Wednesday, the justices voted unanimously to review cases from Long Beach and Riverside that dealt with the ongoing conflict between California’s 1996 voter-approved law allowing medical marijuana and federal laws barring the use or sale of the drug. The state Supreme Court’s rulings in the cases are likely to widely echo [...]
UPLAND – The California Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to review an appeal filed by an Upland medical marijuana cooperative. Counsel representing G3 Holistic in Upland filed the appeal in December following a decision in November by the Fourth District Appellate Court in Riverside siding with the city’s ban on medical marijuana dispensaries through its zoning code. “I’m totally flabbergasted,” said Roger Jon Diamond, attorney for G3. “I thought they might take it, but you never know for sure.” The co-op appealed an injunction granted by the West Valley Superior Court in August 2010 that [...]
A young Mendocino man whose legal plight has become a cause célèbre for medical marijuana advocates appeared in Mendocino County court Thursday in hopes of halting extradition to Texas. Mendocino County Judge Ann Moorman told Chris Diaz’ attorney, Don Lipmanson, he needed to submit that request to Texas authorities. “I don’t have any jurisdiction,” she said. But Moorman said she will consider releasing Diaz on bail at a hearing she then scheduled for Tuesday. Supporters of Diaz, 22, an asthmatic and father of two children, ages 1 and 4, contend that he is emblematic of [...]
One year after a group dubbed the “SLO 12” was arrested during an undercover investigation into medical marijuana dispensaries, some local activists are still fuming. About 10 people gathered Tuesday morning outside San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Monterey Street to protest the arrests, Nick Wilson reports in The Tribune. They held signs supporting “safe access” to medical marijuana and criticized the ongoing handling of the cases. The bust has led to ongoing prosecutions they say are unnecessary, draining for defendants and wasteful of taxpayer money. They contend that those arrested were complying with Proposition [...]
In response to a court order, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Friday afternoon returned 2 pounds of medicinal marijuana to a dispensary from which it was seized earlier this month. A Sacramento Superior Court judge Friday morning ordered the Sheriff’s Department to return the marijuana to the Common Roots Collective, Kim Minugh reports in the Sacramento Bee. On Dec. 1, deputies accompanied code enforcement officers who executed an inspection warrant at the dispensary on 52nd Street in Sacramento, said John Fuery, the collective’s attorney. While at the collective, deputies seized 2 pounds of marijuana, citing [...]
LONG BEACH – A jury Wednesday convicted two local men on all counts for using a trio of medical marijuana collectives to illegally sell the drug, as well as grand theft and filing false tax returns. Supporters of defendants Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron insisted the charges – 13 felony counts – are nothing more than an attack by zealous police and prosecutors in violation of the state’s medical marijuana law, Tracy Manzer reports in the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Deputy District Attorney Jodi Castano countered the case was about two men using the sick and [...]
SANTA CRUZ – A jury found Stewart Skuba, 34, guilty of murder for the 2009 death of Elias Sorokin on Friday. The former Westside hairdresser was accused of robbing, kidnapping and killing 29-year-old Sorokin on July 21, 2009 in a Felix Street garage and dumping the body off a North Coast cliff. His body has never been found but his burned truck was discovered in the Santa Cruz Mountains several days after he was reported missing. Jurors returned with guilty verdicts on the murder and robbery charges, but was unable to reach a verdict on [...]
A failed plot by three Fresno men to grow pot under the guise of medical marijuana users but instead sell it for profit has led to prison sentences for three Massachusetts men who bought the drugs. The men were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Fresno to between 24 and 30 months in prison, to be followed by two to three years of supervised release, according to Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims and federal court and drug officials. They pleaded guilty in September, the Fresno Bee reports. According to court documents, they admitted buying [...]
A Nevada City man is guilty of unlawfully growing marijuana after all, a state appeals court has ruled. The Third Appellate District Court of Appeals has reversed a Nevada County Superior Court judge’s decision to set aside a guilty verdict and grant a new trial for Eric Engstrom. Engstrom’s attorney, Stephen Munkelt, said he now plans to appeal that decision to the state Supreme Court, Liz Kellar reports in The Union. Engstrom was found guilty in March 2010 of unlawfully growing marijuana, but was acquitted of possessing marijuana for sale in a split decision by [...]
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