After fleeing to Canada in an effort to avoid incarceration, medical-marijuana activist Steve Kubby continues his fight with Placer County seeking to have the charges against him dismissed. Kubby's attorney, Bill McPike, and Chris Cattran, deputy district attorney for Placer County, faced off in an Auburn courtroom Friday. McPike filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, a motion to vacate judgement, with the court Friday. Cattran reportedly filed a response, whereupon McPike requested additional time to review. The pair will return to court May 16 for further proceedings. [continues 706 words]
The Auburn Journal not only published another Kubby pot story, you published a guest column by him, Journal, July 22. I checked Google and there are 462 items that come up which include both the Auburn Journal and Steve Kubby. His column shows that in Canada a person can have two pounds per month. How many plants does it take to reap one pound? He was caught with 265 plants in Placer County. Would Canada allow this? I have written on this particular subject a number of times as I feel it is a disservice to the community to keep trying to force-feed the legalization of pot. Pot is no different from cigarettes when it comes to lung disease. If it is legal, then the misled individuals that are smoking it will have a venue for a lawsuit against companies that distribute the product. Mike Monahan Newcastle [end]
The term medical marijuana took on dramatic new meaning in February, 2000 when researchers in Madrid, Spain announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the most psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Curing cancer with THC might seem hard to believe, but the Madrid study wasn't the first time that THC had successfully dissolved tumors in mice; the first was a U.S. investigation 30 years ago. In 1974, researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institute of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice -- lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia. Since then, dozens of other peer-reviewed scientific studies have confirmed that THC and other canabinoids shrink tumors, cut off their blood supply and program cancer cells to die. [continues 1386 words]
With regards to the article by Erin Gallup-Main, "City to weigh medical pot business restrictions," June 6. First off, although you mentioned what Steve Kubby had said about his adrenal gland cancer being fatal without marijuana, you failed to mention the fact that Steve Kubby's medical doctor has also said that Mr. Kubby would likely die without medicinal cannabis. I believe this is important as it gives a lot of credibility to the point which Mr. Kubby was making. [continues 144 words]
Police Chief Nick Willick said he doesn't want a medical marijuana distributor near Auburn schools, churches or neighborhoods. But that could happen. That's why he prepared a draft ordinance for the City Council to review at the first of two public hearings at 6 p.m. June 14 at City Hall. "We don't have anybody knocking on the door " Willick said. "Since voters voted for this (Proposition 215) and Legislature passed the law (Senate Bill 420), I want to give as much protection to the citizens as possible. If one of these businesses were to open up in Auburn, we want to have as many safeguards as the law allows, in place." [continues 557 words]
Re: "New Roseville store sells medicinal marijuana," Journal, Feb. 4. I would like to set the record straight with regret to the representation that the district attorney's office gave approval to the City of Roseville to issue a business license for Richard Marino's Capitol Compassionate Care business. In fact, no such request was received from the City of Roseville and no approval was provided. Mr. Marino telephoned the district attorney's office in November 2003 to seek assurance that he would not be prosecuted for activities associated with his proposed medicinal marijuana business. Because the supplying and sales of medicinal marijuana is a very complicated legal issue, Mr. Marino was asked to submit a letter listing specific questions to which we may provide answers. Instead, this office received a letter from Mr. Marino simply requesting a "documentation letter" that he may use to obtain liability insurance. [continues 178 words]
Medical Marijuana Sold In Roseville Store The small lobby of Capitol Compassionate Care was packed Monday afternoon. At least 10 people crowded in to purchase medicinal marijuana at Roseville's newest business. Open for a little over a week, storeowner Richard Marino said business was slow at first, but is booming now. By 4 p.m. on Monday he had run out of several kinds of marijuana. "People are just so grateful to have a safe place to come and get their medicinal marijuana, instead of getting it off the streets," said Marino, who lives in Rancho Cordova and also uses the marijuana for medical purposes. "I've had nothing but positive comments." [continues 793 words]
Placer County will ask a federal judge Monday to dismiss the lawsuit filed by a former Loomis couple over a 1998 search of their home for marijuana -- an event they contend led them to bankruptcy, selling their home and divorcing. Dentist Michael Baldwin, 40, and his former wife, Georgia Chacko, claim deputies used excessive force in the search, an assertion the county denies. Sheriff's deputies said they found 146 marijuana plants at the home. The couple said the marijuana found at their Moss Lane home was legal under Prop. 215, the medical marijuana measure California voters passed in 1996. [continues 722 words]
Shortly after one of your readers said that he hoped Canada would keep Steve Kubby and save Placer County the cost of incarcerating him, Canada made its decision to refuse Kubby's plea for political refugee status. Still, your reader was right to hope that no more of Placer County's resources would be wasted pursuing this folly of a prosecution. As a Libertarian, I feel that my friend and colleague shouldn't have had to deal with any of this craziness. Kubby never hurt anyone and should have been left alone. Lance Brown Nevada City [end]
I really don't have a problem with the (Steve) Kubby pot problem, even though I do wholeheartedly believe that the medicinal marijuana initiative that was passed is bogus and only made it easier for potheads to keep being potheads. My problem has been the ongoing message in the Auburn Journal, which has published letters that are transparently clear in support of Kubby from a pro-pot viewpoint. Once again, you have piqued my awareness of the Kubbys and the avoidance of serving time in our jurisdiction, Journal, Dec. 7. The term was determined, as I recall, not for pot but for a few other illicit items that were found in the Kubbys' possession that in no way can be construed as something for "medicinal" use. [continues 142 words]
Placer County Fugitive Kubby Seeks Refuge, Drops Lawsuit Against County Fugitive medical marijuana advocate Steve Kubby -- who has said the 120-day jail term he has been ordered to serve in Placer County on misdemeanor drug charges would be a death sentence -- expects to learn Monday whether he's entitled to permanent refugee status in Canada. A resident of the Canadian province of British Columbia since 2001, the medical marijuana advocate and former Libertarian candidate for governor said Friday that he's "cautiously optimistic." [continues 486 words]
My updated Health Canada medical marijuana exemption card arrived yesterday Here are my new cultivation limits: 117 plants (no limit on size of plants or grow space), 12 pounds maximum for storage and 1.5 pounds possession (while traveling anywhere in Canada). This is what my physicians and I believe is reasonable for me to have as an adequate supply for my condition. It's pretty much what we fought for back in California. And 12 pounds is what the U.S. government sends its medical marijuana patients. In contrast, California is about to pass a six-plant, half-pound limit that would be a death sentence for patients such as myself [continues 106 words]
Steve Kubby was wrongfully represented in a letter to the editor in the Auburn Journal, July 3. When living in the United States, Steve was prescribed marijuana by a California doctor. Even though Steve had all the state's documents to verify his marijuana was a legal medicine, the Drug Enforcement Agency, a government bureaucracy designed to seize nonviolent American citizens' assets and property to stay afloat financially, bulldozed and ransacked Steve and his wife, Michele, Kubby's humble home. They have tried to justify their inexcusable actions by saying illegal drugs fund terror and Saddam Hussein, while ignoring the fact that this wouldn't happen if "street drugs" were regulated. [continues 127 words]
In response to the letter, "Court was right to make drug charge a felony" Journal, July 3: Is persecuting Steve Kubby a ploy to distract the public from another government failure? Please don't persecute cancer patients out of frustration, that's un-American. Steve Kubby's marijuana use mitigates the deadly effects of a rare form of adrenal cancer. Despite his illness and the added stress of countless court appearances, he has survived will beyond what his doctors predicted. Now a simple possession charge has been changed to a felony two years after his trial ended. The U.S. has made his claim of political persecution well-founded. To make matters worse, someone has sunk so low as to suggest support for Saddam Hussein and his cohorts. Nothing could be further from the truth, since Steve Kubby gets his marijuana from his legal home garden with permission from Canadian authorities. Vincent Alvarez Pennsylvania Marijuana Party [end]
One really has to question Yvonne Holden's logic in her letter, "Court was right to make drug charge a felony" Journal, July 3. Wasting taxpayer funds and the legal system's time to tar Steve Kubby with a felony over a miniscule piece of peyote button that was found in a guest room others had access to demonstrates how insane this war on drugs has become. People like Holden will never drive drugs from Placer County, but they've done a good job driving out the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Gary Storck Madison, Wisc. [end]
In response to a letter, Journal, July 3, "Court was right to make drug charge a felony." "By now, all of us have had the opportunity to know that drug use supports Saddam Hussein and his cohorts." If Steve Kubby is so dangerous why did he immigrate to Canada with the full consent of the Placer County court that convicted him? Why now, after two years, did the government push a dead horse like this? Steve Kubby is a productive citizen fighting for his life and rights every day. [continues 175 words]
The reasoned decision of the Third District Appellate Court regarding a former Placer County man (Steve Kubby), a drug user, is indeed something with which most citizens agree. Unfortunately, a few lawyers, after years of involvement with manipulation and logistics, have lost the ability to use logic. By now, all of us have had the opportunity to know that drug use supports Saddam Hussein and his cohorts. Acts of drug use are not only individual acts against the user's mind and body, but are acts against the community, as the user reaches out to destroy others and self. And we are left to tidy up the mess. Drug use exists in Placer County. We don't need it. Yvonne Holden Foresthill [end]
An attorney sharply criticized a state appeals court ruling reinstating a felony conviction for Steven Kubby, a former Libertarian candidate for governor who was convicted of mescaline possession in a trial that followed a search of his Placer County home. J. David Nick, who represented Kubby at his criminal trial in Auburn, called the Third Appellate District "nothing more than a rubber stamp for the prosecution." Judicial appointments by then-governors Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian have turned the appellate court in Sacramento into "nothing but prosecutors wearing black robes," Nick asserted. [continues 362 words]
I see Dave Ryland, in his letter of Oct. 10, is still in denial about Steve Kubby's adrenal cancer. Like other staunch prohibitionists, Mr. Ryland suspects people like Kubby hide behind the law, as prosecutors are wont to say, using Proposition 215 as a 'loophole' to protect their druggie lifestyle. He may be interested to know that a survey by California National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws showed that medical users represent only 1 of 100 California pot smokers. [continues 179 words]
It is astonishing to me and my family that Placer County officials and locals continue to claim I do not need medical marijuana. After all, my wife and I raised and spent a quarter of a million dollars to prove our innocence and uphold a law we helped to pass. It is also disappointing that so much ink was spent on my arrest in Canada, but no mention that the immigration charges were later dismissed as groundless. The Canadian court ruled that I am not a fugitive, that I entered Canada legally, that I cannot be deported and that my convictions in the U.S. are for acts that are not a crime in Canada. [continues 134 words]
The unjust treatment of Steve Kubby, Journal April 21, at the hands of Placer County and the state of California is a blatant violation of his human rights. He was denied his rights under Proposition 215 by a Stalin-oid show trial. Once `convicted' he was denied proper medical treatment which should have been provided under Proposition 36. The pseudo-scientific war on drugs is destroying the constitutional fabric of our nation. Only facing the truth about the lies and malevolent power lust behind this arbitrary and irrational prohibitionist dogma can keep America from becoming `Amerika.' Howard R. Olson, PhD. Concord [end]
Regarding the Steve Kubby issue, I have to wonder why Steve is required to spend 120 days in jail since Prop. 36 is in full effect in the state of California. Prop. 36 is supposed to prevent incarceration for minor drug crimes. A mushroom stem and a piece of a cactus plant surely do not translate into harm to anyone's community. Placer County District Attorney Brad Fenocchio appears to be vindictive and apparently unhappy that Steve beat the marijuana cultivation charges and so he sentences Steve to a life-threatening incarceration completely ignoring the will of the California people as embodied in Prop. 36. Obviously Fenocchio is, himself, not willing to abide by the law, so the people of California should insist that he seek employment elsewhere. Greg Lathrop Vancouver, Wash. [end]
Canadian authorities have charged expatriate Placer County medical cannibas activist Steven Kubby with cultivating marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking. Sechelt, British Columbia Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported that following Kubby's arrest Tuesday for an immigration hearing, Kubby's Sechelt home was searched "resulting in the seizure of a sophisticated marijuana grow operation." A total of 160 marijuana plants were found in the search, resulting in charges against Kubby of both production of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking, police said. [continues 230 words]
Fugitive Being Held On Immigration Warrant Placer County fugitive Steven Kubby -- who has said the 120-day jail term he has been ordered to serve in Placer County on misdemeanor drug charges would be a death sentence -- has been arrested in Canada by immigration officials. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police official in Sechelt, British Columbia said Wednesday that Kubby was taken into custody the day before on a passport and immigration warrant. He now faces potential removal to the United States. [continues 276 words]
As we watch a war unfold on the television -- a "good" war to protect us from terrorists; really evil, brainwashed terrorists; taking the war to them, as we have been informed, because we cannot protect every target; it raises some questions. Why then are precious resources: specially trained, heavily armed and already on the federal payroll "home security types" attacking a licensed medical physician and her attorney husband in rural El Dorado County? Shouldn't their goal be to protect us from really dangerous people? [continues 146 words]
Andrew Scott's letter criticizing the Tax League and medical marijuana patients, Journal letters, Oct. 5, reads like a one-man hate crime. It is dishonest and prejudiced to refer to bonafide medical patients who have been raided as, "marijuana criminals," especially since not one medical marijuana case in Placer County ever showed sales or criminal activity. It is equally dishonest and prejudiced to suggest that medical marijuana patients are dangerous drivers, when not one case ever involved driving. Finally, it is cruel and bigoted to suggest that the sick, disabled and elderly patients who have been raided are "criminals who try to hide behind an illegitimate use of Prop 215. . ." Steve Kubby Sechelt, British Columbia [end]
I was disgusted by the article in the Journal regarding the Placer County Tax League's opinion on the marijuana arrests conducted by our sheriff's department. It appears the tax league has forged an alliance with marijuana criminals. An alliance founded in ignorance. The tax league used phrases like "quasi-legal" and "SWAT-team like" in describing the arrests of the marijuana growers. These are the same propaganda phrases marijuana extremists use to attempt to demonize legitimate, ethical, (and most offensive to the marijuana criminals) effective law enforcement. [continues 169 words]
Facility Dispenses Medical Pot Recommendations COOL -- A clinic that has dispensed more than 6,000 medical marijuana recommendations remained open Wednesday, despite a Drug Enforcement Administration raid that removed files and computer records. Federal and West El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team agents searched the offices of the California Medical Research Center on Friday. At the same time, another team used a federal search warrant to seize files and 32 pot plants from the rural El Dorado County home of center directors Dale Schafer and Mollie Fry. [continues 668 words]
Once again, Journal reporter Gus Thomson has written a most informative article, this time regarding the "quasi-legal" activities of some Placer County Sheriff's deputies. The involvement of the Board of Supervisors, apparently approving such actions, is indeed shocking. I must question whether they were fully informed about what the deputies were doing? A state law is a state law (the Compassionate Use Act, 11362.5) and does not only apply to certain counties, but to all of them. Putting a county at risk for any lawsuit is an irresponsible act and if it is, in fact, just to get federal funds and new law type tools (like fake federal grand jury search warrants) then it is reprehensible. [continues 116 words]
One of Placer County's most conservative voices - the League of Placer County Taxpayers - has decided to publicly chastise the Placer County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff's Department for their role in a series of mostly out-of-county marijuana raids. Raids in 1998 and 1999 enmeshed Placer County in a series of lawsuits alleging that Sheriff's Department members overstepped their legal authority. Five suits have been filed in federal court, with three of the cases scheduled to be heard in 2003. [continues 598 words]
Medical marijuana advocate and former Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby remains free after failing to show up Friday at North Auburn's Placer County Jail to begin serving a 120-day sentence. Now a resident of Canada's Sechelt, British Columbia, Kubby said Saturday that "nothing has been settled in court" and he's now being threatened by law enforcement with either "becoming a fugitive or being murdered in their jail." Kubby won acquittal earlier this year on charges that he grew 265 pot plants at his Olympic Valley home for personal profit but was convicted on two other drug charges. [continues 387 words]
County Counsel Says Case Has No Validity Steve Kubby filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Placer County law-enforcement officials this week, opening a new chapter in an ongoing court battle over a 1999 drug raid on his Squaw Valley home. In the lawsuit, the medical marijuana advocate and former Libertarian Party candidate for governor charges the county, Sheriff Ed Bonner, District Attorney Brad Fenocchio and other defendants with violating his civil rights, as well as the civil rights of wife Michele and his children. The lawsuit also charges county officials with maliciously harming him and his family. [continues 343 words]
Consider for a moment a search warrant based upon an anonymous letter or informant. Now remember, this could be anyone writing anything against anyone. A neighbor you angered years ago or yesterday, a PTA mom who lost the election for Top Mom, a jealous suitor or even a stalker n all of these people could conceivably write an anonymous letter to your local sheriff, about anything, and by his past actions he considers this something that must be acted upon. Consider further that this indeed happened n someone who has it in for you for one obscure reason or another decides to write that anonymous letter and the cops in all their drug regalia beat on your door and they don't find what was stated clearly in the letter (example: 'thousands of marijuana plants will be found, financing political career with proceeds') Instead they find a couple of hundred of plants all legally being grown by two medical cannabis/marijuana patients. [continues 136 words]
Student With Doctor's Recommendation Counseled Against Drug Use By Judge A Sierra College student's marijuana possession case was dismissed Tuesday on Proposition 215 grounds but the defendant couldn't escape some advice from the judge who decided the case wouldn't proceed. "Don't smoke dope son," Judge James Garbolino said as former defendant James Shelton stood up and prepared to leave the courtroom. "It's a sham and also a violation of federal law. You should also know that it's an entry-level drug to other things." [continues 256 words]
State Attorney General To Appeal Court Decision The state Attorney General's Office plans to appeal a Placer County Superior Court judge's decision to reduce medical marijuana advocate Steve Kubby's convictions on magic mushroom and peyote possession charges from felonies to misdemeanors. California Department of Justice information officer Michael Van Winkle said the county District Attorney's Office request for state prosecutors to appeal the decision by Judge John Cosgrove has been approved "on a preliminary basis" with no filing date yet set in appeals court. [continues 217 words]
Once upon a time, one of the most important crops in the Americas was suppressed because it offended the sensibilities of the local ruling class. Long before the United States outlawed hemp -- one of agriculture's earliest and most important crops -- the Spaniards banished the production of amaranth, the most important food staple of the Aztec Empire. In a curious piece of history that resonates with today's prohibition of hemp or cannabis, the conquering Spaniards set about to eliminate the cultivation of amaranth. They were so successful that the nutritious grain is only now, more than 400 years later, re-entering the world of agricultural science. [continues 108 words]
Medical marijuana proponent Steve Kubby -- who won acquittal earlier this year on charges that he grew 265 pot plants at his home for personal profit -- was told Friday that he wouldn't be able to smoke cannabis while serving a 120-day jail term on the two drug charges he was convicted of. Kubby produced expert witnesses during a lengthy pot-possession-for-sale trial to back his contention that heavy marijuana smoking keeps a rare form of cancer he suffers from at bay. [continues 282 words]
Steve Kubby has his name in the paper, almost everyday. Who in the heck does he think he is? Are we catering to him because he is a professional person? The American Medical Association has not sanctioned medical marijuana for all the people. It only works for a very, very few. Let people get marijuana from their doctor. Kubby should be in prison with the rest of the criminals. Any other person would have been in prison a long, long time ago. Instead, now he's trying to recall the district attorney. John R. Murphy, Foresthill [end]
SACRAMENTO More than four years after their rural Newcastle home was raided and hundreds of marijuana plants seized, Newcastle's William and Margaret Riddick are nearing sentencing in federal court. The Riddicks were originally charged with cultivating marijuana, sale of marijuana, conspiracy, and being armed while in the commission of a felony. William Riddick, 68, said Friday after a sentencing hearing was continued to June 1 that he and his 69-year-old wife were growing cannabis legally under Proposition 215 guidelines. Facing a 10-years-to-life sentence for cultivation, they pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of using a communications facility to grow marijuana, he said. [continues 438 words]
If libertarian Steve Kubby does serve his 120-day jail sentence in custody he will not be housed in the main jail, but will be lodged in minimum security barracks. Like all inmates detained in those units, Kubby will be given a prisoner's job and will work on various county projects. At no time will his life be subject to "a death sentence" ("Kubby denied change in jail conditions," April 8). However, Kubby's presence in the correctional system will be very controversial, as jail staff hoped Kubby would take three years formal probation and would not become a legal symbol. [continues 186 words]
As most readers of the Auburn Journal know, the jury refused to convict Steve and Michele Kubby for growing marijuana. They did find Steve guilty of possession of two 10-year-old peyote buttons and half of a mushroom stem, which he used for research in writing his book, "The Politics of Consciousness." For that he gets to pay $4,500 in fines, be confined under house arrest for 120 days, wear an ankle bracelet ($30 a day), and expect to be searched any time, day or night, for three years. If Steve is stopped while buying his marijuana on the black market and gets thrown in jail, yes, he could die. He has adrenal cancer cells scattered throughout his body that, in the absence of marijuana, produce copious amounts of adrenaline, which soon raises his blood pressure to brain-popping levels. Is this justice? [continues 92 words]
A Placer County Superior Court judge said Friday he wants to have a closer look at whether California's Proposition 36 could apply to Steve Kubby's sentence on drug charges. Judge John Cosgrove considered a motion by Kubby to commute a 120-day jail sentence that had been imposed March 2 for misdemeanor convictions for possession of a magic mushroom stem and peyote buttons. He decided to hold a hearing April 27 on the potential of applying Prop. 36 to Kubby's case. [continues 393 words]
Saying he thinks raising 15,000 signatures on a petition to force a recall election of Placer County District Attorney Brad Fenocchio is "do-able," medicinal marijuana advocate Steve Kubby joined three other people Wednesday in taking a first step to put the question before voters. Kubby whose trial on pot-for-sale charges ended with a mistrial earlier this year was joined at the Placer County Finance Administration Center by Roseville's Lyman "Sandy" Sanborn, Sanborn's wife, Grace, and Edie Lerman, legal coordinator for the American Medical Marijuana Association. Sanborn is suing the county in federal court over a 1999 raid that netted no pot and no charges. [continues 123 words]
Roseville's Lyman "Sandy" Sanborn is suing Placer County for $1 million in connection with a marijuana raid on his house two years ago by sheriff's investigators that yielded no pot and no charges. Sanborn - who proudly points to a youthful connection with former President Ronald Reagan - said he's never used marijuana. The Sunday morning raid left his house trashed and his life in shambles, he said. Because of the raid, however, Sanborn's suit has become enmeshed with others filed in U.S. District Court against Placer County by medicinal marijuana patients. Sanborn, who first moved to Roseville in 1947, distances himself from the drug issue and claims officers made false statements to gain a search warrant. [continues 536 words]
Steve Kubby made an unusual appearance before the Placer County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, seeking its help in ending a contentious legal battle over medical use of marijuana. Wife Michele also addressed the board, calling for a negotiated end to the battle. The couple spoke during a part of the meeting set aside for public comments on topics not already on the board agenda. Supervisors listened attentively to the Kubbys, but didn't say anything in response. Legally, the board can't act on topics brought up during public comments, but can schedule them for discussion at later meetings. [continues 461 words]
Counsel Argues Officers Acted Legally Marijuana raids in 1998 and 1999 have enmeshed Placer County in a series of lawsuits alleging that Sheriff's Department members overstepped their legal authority. Three lawsuits have been filed in federal District Court in Sacramento County, with Santa Cruz attorney Kate Wells representing plaintiffs Robert DeArkland, Chris Miller and Lyman Sanborn. But the Placer County County Counsel's Office is arguing that the raids were conducted legally. Deputy County Counsel David Huskey said Monday that the county has already rejected financial claims connected with the three suits and that led to civil suits in Sacramento County. [continues 543 words]
Steve Kubby announced this week he's unwilling to subject himself to electronic monitoring at home, acknowledging that his decision may mean he will have to spend time in jail. Kubby was a central figure in a recently-concluded trial that was one of the most contentious cases in Placer County history. Kubby and wife Michele initially faced felony charges arising from a raid on their Olympic Valley home that netted 265 marijuana plants, but those charges were dropped recently after a mistrial was declared in the case. At that point, the jury was leaning 11-1 in favor of acquittal. [continues 266 words]
This is really a question to the people of Placer County. I have had the wonderful opportunity to spend quite some time in this most beautiful part of our state and have done a little research into the county in general. I have found very few disturbing things, however one is glaring. Brad Fenocchio, Placer's district attorney, seems to be confused in some areas. While on the one hand he is accepting federal money to ensure protection of the elderly from abuse and crime, including the prosecution of those taking advantage of the older population. On the other hand, he allows the feds to come in and take property away from elderly residents who were doing what is legal in this state (cultivation of marijuana or cannabis for people unable to grow their own) and is quite likely receiving a kick-back from the government, for the county of course. [continues 69 words]
Placer County Sheriff Ed Bonner has been named to a statewide panel that will study how law enforcement agencies throughout California deploy SWAT teams in high-risk situations. Commissioned by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the law enforcement panel includes several police department heads from Northern California. Its members will pick discussion topics for perhaps four meetings this year, California Department of Justice spokesman Nathan Barankin said Friday. Police Chief Art Venegas of Sacramento and Richard Word of Oakland were also invited to join the dozen-member commission, the department announced. Aside from Bonner, others include prosecutors, judges and state and local government representatives. [continues 254 words]
