Pubdate: Thu, 16 Aug 2012
Source: New Times (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Copyright: 2012 New Times
Contact:  http://www.newtimesslo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1277
Author: Matt Fountain

FINAL DOOBIE DOZEN CASE DISMISSED

The judge called Peter Miller to the stand, and in less than two 
minutes, his legal troubles were behind him. A fleeting look of 
disbelief passed over his face, testament to the one year, eight 
months, and 17 days he spent under the criminal spotlight.

At an Aug. 13 hearing San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Ginger 
Garrett dismissed felony marijuana sales and possession charges 
against Miller, after the prosecution said the District Attorney's 
Office was "unable to proceed."

Deputy District Attorney Sandy Mitchell filed a motion at the onset 
of the hearing to dismiss Miller's case, given that jury instructions 
approved at his last significant hearing in May 2011 allowed him to 
defend that he was providing medical marijuana under California's 
Compassionate Use Act.

Jury instructions are a list of guidelines, issued by a judge, which 
jurors must use to interpret legal issues surrounding a criminal 
case. Given the legal gray area that is California's medical 
marijuana program, the previous judge, Barry LaBarbera, said at the 
time he preferred letting a jury decide if Miller was following the law.

Miller, 57, was the former operator of the Paso Robles-based Harmonic 
Alliance collective, which, he argued, served only qualified medical 
marijuana patients through a delivery service. He was arrested in 
December 2010 with 11 other mobile dispensary service operators 
during "Operation Green Sweep" headed by the former regional 
narcotics task force in which undercover San Luis Obispo police 
officers posed as legal patients.

The District Attorney's Office didn't file charges against three of 
the once-defendants, but the office followed through with the 
remainder of their cases, on its basis that accepting cash in 
exchange for marijuana is illegal, in any fashion.

During Miller's case, LaBarbera stated he was unwilling to agree with 
the prosecutor's interpretation of state law, which set into motion a 
series of dismissals against the other people arrested, all at the 
request of the DA.

Up to this point, however, prosecutors have dismissed cases only to 
immediately appeal them to the state, in an effort-they say-to urge 
the higher courts to better define what is legal. Office Spokesman 
Jerret Gran, however, told New Times there are no plans to appeal 
Miller's case. As for the remaining six cases that have been 
appealed, they will continue through the process, which could take 
years, Gran said.

Miller, however, said he wishes he could be vindicated with the same 
public attention with which he was arrested when his mugshot was 
splashed across the daily paper's front page.

"It's as if the iceberg's just melted," Miller told New Times. "But 
it doesn't seem like a gray area to me when 12 out of 12 cases get dropped."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom