Pubdate: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Sacramento Bee Contact: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento CA 95852 Feedback: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html Website: http://www.sacbee.com/ Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html Author: Wayne Wilson, Bee Staff Writer Related: http://www.mapinc.org/find?BKKubby Note: More info on Steve Kubby at http://www.kubby.com/ KUBBY DEFENSE PROBES SEARCH: DETECTIVE PRESSED ON MOTIVE, PROCESS A blistering cross-examination of the lead detective in the Steven Kubby marijuana cultivation case consumed most of the trial day Thursday as defense attorneys explored their theory that the prosecution of Kubby and his wife is politically based. Lawyers J. David Nick and J. Tony Serra pounded away at Placer County Sheriff's Detective Michael Lyke, challenging his credentials as an investigator and his testimony that it was his call to arrest the Kubbys only after discovering 265 marijuana plants in their Squaw Valley home. The Kubbys, who insist their garden was being used only to meet their medical needs under the provisions of Proposition 215, are on trial in Placer County Superior Court. Each is charged with seven felonies and two misdemeanors, including conspiracy, cultivation and possession for sale. Steven Kubby is accused of illegally possessing a hypodermic needle. The couple had a key role in the passage of Proposition 215, the 1996 state initiative that allows the medical use of marijuana. Their trial, after two days of testimony, will be in recess until Oct. 11 for several reasons: Nick is getting married Saturday and will be on a honeymoon. Judge John L. Cosgrove will be on vacation. In his testimony Thursday, Lyke acknowledged the Kubbys were arrested about four hours after the search began and only after Deputy District Attorney Christopher Cattran arrived at the house and conferred with him on the day of the search. But he insisted Cattran had nothing to do with the decision to take the couple into custody. Lyke said that even though this was his first marijuana cultivation raid, "I knew the difference between what (amount) would be for personal use and what was a commercial operation, and in my opinion, that grow was a commercial operation." So the defense tested his knowledge of medical marijuana. Was he aware that the federal government had recognized Kubby, 53, as a cancer patient? Did he know cancer patients require more marijuana than glaucoma patients? How many of the plants seized were flowered and how many in the nursling state? Lyke said he didn't know what Kubby's status was with the federal government. Nor did he know how many plants were in each of the various stages of growth. Did he find in the Kubbys' home 3 1/2 pounds of smokeable marijuana, an amount allocated by the government every six months to some recognized medical marijuana patients? "I don't know what the yield of the plants would have been," Lyke replied. "If you don't know the yield, why did you arrest them?" Serra asked. Prosecutor Cattran's objection was sustained. "You wouldn't know medical marijuana if it was staring you in the face, would you?" Serra demanded, prompting another sustained objection. The defense got Lyke to acknowledge that the seizure of hemp oil from the Kubbys' refrigerator and empty hemp oil bottles from the trash was probably a mistake, explaining that he simply didn't know until afterward that hemp oil is sold over the counter at health food stores. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck