Pubdate: Tue, 23 Sep 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The Associated Press
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298

WASHINGTON: MARIJUANA-USE TICKETS ARE NULLIFIED

(AP) - City Attorney Pete Holmes of Seattle is dropping all tickets 
issued for the public use of marijuana through the first seven months 
of this year, because most of them were issued by a single police 
officer who disagrees with the law allowing marijuana use. In a 
briefing to the City Council on Monday, Mr. Holmes said he is moving 
to dismiss about 100 tickets and would seek a refund for those who 
have already paid their $27 ticket. Through the first six months of 
2014, the officer, Randy Jokela, wrote about 80 percent of the 
tickets, addressing some to "Petey Holmes" or writing that he 
considered the law silly. The officer was temporarily reassigned, and 
the department's Office of Professional Accountability is 
investigating. The police chief, Kathleen O'Toole, asked Mr. Holmes 
to drop the tickets Officer Jokela issued, but he said it would be 
easier procedurally to drop them all and would make for cleaner data 
as the city tracks enforcement of the law.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom