Pubdate: Wed, 18 May 2016
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2016 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Jim Schultz

COTTONWOOD MAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO POT, WEAPONS CHARGES

A Cottonwood man who says he grows medical marijuana on his property 
for disabled and ailing veterans under his Medicine for Our Military 
program pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Shasta County Superior Court to 
illegal marijuana cultivation and other charges.

Donald James "Blue" Mobley, 44, was arraigned on four felonies and 
one misdemeanor count. He also saw his bail reduced by retired 
Superior Court Judge Anthony Anderson to $85,000 from $110,000,

Mobley, a medical marijuana advocate known for sheltering veterans on 
his land, was arrested Friday after a search of his Two Feathers Road 
property by Shasta County sheriff's deputies and California Fish and 
Wildlife marijuana enforcement agents.

According to the Sheriff's Office, they eradicated 1,844 growing 
marijuana plants from two outdoor cultivation sites. The agents also 
found a dozen firearms, including two assault rifles, packaging 
materials, digital scales and about 75 pounds of processed marijuana 
and leftovers, the Sheriff's Office said.

Mobley is being represented by the Shasta County Public Defender's 
Office and is slated to have a June 1 preliminary hearing to 
determine whether adequate evidence exists to order him to stand trial.

Mobley is charged with possession of marijuana for sale, illegal 
cultivation of marijuana and two counts of possession of an assault weapon.

Additionally, he is charged with possession of an injecting-smoking 
device, a misdemeanor.

About two dozen of Mobley's supporters attended his arraignment, 
including a Redding woman nearly found in contempt after a courtroom outburst.

As they began to leave the courtroom after Mobley's arraignment, 
Shari Houser loudly voiced her displeasure over Mobley's plight.

"This is a travesty," she said, adding that Mobley has only done good 
things to help the community.

Anderson, irked by the outburst, told Houser to return to the 
courtroom, admonished her and said her comments were out of line.

"We do not allow that kind of intimidation of the court," he said. 
"Riots do not provide justice."

Houser apologized to Anderson, who accepted her apology.

Mobley's arraignment comes one day after approximately 20 of his 
supporters staged a protest outside the Shasta County Courthouse.

Those protesters told the Record Searchlight they believed 
authorities targeted Mobley for rebelling against county code 
enforcement officials over letting homeless veterans live on his property.

They also said the 1,844 marijuana plants and 75 pounds of processed 
pot found during Friday's raid were for legal prescriptions, not for 
sales as sheriff's deputies allege. Interviewed by telephone from the 
Shasta County Jail on Monday morning, Mobley also told a Record 
Searchlight reporter that the charges against him are "all bogus," 
and he, too, believes his arrest is about more than code violations.

"It's a personal grudge issue for code enforcement," he said. "I 
definitely feel singled out."

Last week's raid at Mobley's Cottonwood area property was the third 
since last year.

Law enforcement officers removed more than 500 cannabis plants from 
his property in June and hundreds more plants in October.

But, authorities say, Mobley continues to replant, despite their warnings.

Sheriff's deputy Tom Barner wrote in a sheriff's investigative report 
filed Tuesday in Shasta County Superior Court that the most recent 
raid showed no signs that the marijuana found were for a co-op or 
collective, noting that no medical marijuana recommendations were found.

And, he wrote, none of the people found on the property would provide 
proof of having legal paperwork under the guidelines of Proposition 215.

"They all were uncooperative, rude and distracting," he wrote.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom