Pubdate: Tue, 02 Dec 2003
Source: Press-Enterprise (CA)
Copyright: 2003 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact:  http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Joe Vargo, The Press-Enterprise

POT CASE CALLED 'SHIFT'

Inland: Felony Charges Are Dropped Against a Couple Who Grew "Medicinal 
Marijuana."

A judge dismissed felony charges against a Temecula couple Monday in a
case their attorney said marks a dramatic shift in how Riverside
County prosecutes people who grow marijuana for medical purposes.

The husband and wife had been charged with cultivating marijuana and
possession for sale, which could have landed them in state prison for
up to 32 months.

Following a two-minute hearing Monday, Riverside County Superior Court
Judge Rodney Walker dropped all charges against LaVonne Victor, 48,
who suffers from multiple sclerosis, emphysema, compressed back
vertebrae and panic attacks.

"Praise God," a teary LaVonne Victor said from her wheelchair outside
of court. "Christmas came early."

Martin Victor, 51, who suffers from cluster headaches resulting from
damaged optic nerves, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of
providing less than an ounce of marijuana to a roommate living at the
couple's Temecula home, a violation of the state's health and safety
code. He said the roommate took the marijuana without his knowledge or
consent.

He paid a $100 fine and his conviction will be automatically expunged
if he violates no laws for two years.

"I spent $30,000 and three years to pay a $100 fine," he said. "I will
never own my home. My children will never own my home. Honest to God,
I have been an emotional wreck since this happened. When the police
raided the house, my life went away."

Even as they ended their legal battle with the county, the Victors and
their supporters hailed California legislators' attempts to clarify
Prop. 215, the 1996 voter referendum that allows for the compassionate
use of marijuana but set no guidelines for how much is too much.

Senate Bill 420, which will go into effect Jan. 1, allows patients
with a doctor's recommendation to possess up to 8 ounces of dry bud
and six mature or 12 immature plants. The bill also allows for a
voluntary registry of medical marijuana patients with county health
departments.

The Victors harvested 7.8 pounds of buds and placed it in 106 sealed
jars before their arrest.

Important Case

The Victors' attorney, J. David Nick of San Francisco, said Monday's
disposition represented a "major shift" in the way Riverside County
prosecutes people who grow marijuana under Prop. 215.

"It's a watershed case in that they accepted the force of the law,"
Nick said. "They moved into the category of benevolence and
compassion."

Prosecutor Quinn Baranski and Ingrid Wyatt, spokeswoman for District
Attorney Grover Trask, disputed the contention that prosecutorial
standards have changed.

They said the county will continue to prosecute medical marijuana
growers on a case-by-case basis.

Baranski said it was never his intention to send the Victors, who have
no previous criminal record, to prison.

"We wanted some acknowledgement of wrongdoing," Baranski
said.

Wyatt said the county is still analyzing and reviewing SB 420. The
district attorney's office weighs several factors when deciding
whether to file charges against people who grow marijuana for medical
uses, including their illness, criminal history and amount grown, she
said. County prosecutors have tried about 10 medical marijuana cases
since Prop. 215 went into effect.

Ongoing Court Battle

The Victors, who moved to Temecula in 1990, said they contacted
Temecula city officials and police before growing 12 marijuana plants
at their home near the Pechanga Resort and Casino. Martin Victor said
he was told by Temecula Police Chief Jim Domenoe that he could grow up
to 15 plants.

Domenoe said he told Martin Victor the county had "no guidelines or
specific criteria" about how much marijuana could be cultivated for
medicinal purposes. He denied ever giving Victor permission to grow
marijuana.

Acting on a tip, police raided the home in October 2001, seizing more
than 21 pounds of marijuana.

The Victors maintained they didn't know how much marijuana the crop
would produce

"I'm not a drug dealer," said LaVonne Victor, who worked for a
hospital manufacturing company before her health began failing in
1992. "I'm a grandmother. I'm an ill person who gets relief from
smoking marijuana."

David Herrick, a former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who
spent 29 months in prison for providing marijuana to Orange County
patients, said the Victor case is the latest in recent months in which
medicinal growers have received light sentences.

In June, a federal judge in Oakland sentenced a man who grew marijuana
for medicinal purposes to one day in jail.

Last week, another federal judge granted probation to three West
Hollywood men convicted of the same offense and lauded them for their
humanitarianism.

Under federal law, growing and consuming marijuana remains a crime
despite the state's Prop. 215.

But Lanny Swerdlow, a Palm Springs activist and member of the
Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, said federal authorities will
continue to crack down.

"The DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) doesn't care what judges or
the voters of California think," he said. 
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