cannabisnews.com: Tuolumne Medical-Pot User Won't Face New Trial





Tuolumne Medical-Pot User Won't Face New Trial
Posted by CN Staff on September 13, 2002 at 07:47:55 PT
By Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau Chief
Source: Stockton Record
A Tuolumne County medical-marijuana user whose cultivation and possession convictions were overturned earlier this year by the California Supreme Court will not face a new trial. Deputy District Attorney John Hansen said Thursday that his office has decided not to seek a new trial for Myron "Carl" Mower, who has a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana to help him cope with diabetes and related ailments.
Hansen said it would not be cost-effective for the county to retry the 40-year-old Mower, because even if he were convicted, he could be sentenced only to serve the rest of his original probation period, which expires in March. "That would be an expensive proposition," Hansen said. "It's not worth it." Hansen said that if Mower had been violating his probation while awaiting the outcome of his appeal, "we'd probably be more interested in trying the case. But he hasn't, and we have nothing to gain." Mower, who was upfront about his medical marijuana use, was arrested in 1997 in what proved to be the county's first case involving Proposition 215, which passed in 1996 and gave people with certain illnesses the legal right to use and grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. A jury convicted Mower of cultivation and possession of marijuana the next year, and he was placed on five years' probation. But he appealed his conviction, and the state Supreme Court ultimately overturned it in July. The Supreme Court also ruled that in the future, legitimate medical-marijuana users under Proposition 215 must raise only a reasonable doubt that they meet the legal criteria to avoid going to trial. Mower has been waiting since that ruling to find out whether the district attorney's office would seek to try him again on the cultivation and possession charges. He became alarmed this week when he received a letter from Superior Court Judge Eric DuTemple ordering him to appear in court Oct. 1 for a trial-setting conference. Mower said DuTemple's letter also ordered District Attorney Donald Segerstrom to prepare an order transporting Mower to the county jail -- a prospect that had Mower fearing for his life. "If they put me in jail," Mower said before he learned Segerstrom's office would not seek a new trial, "they'll surely kill me." That's because Mower said the jail was not able to meet his medical needs. He said he must take more than two dozen pills a day in addition to the insulin he must inject to control his diabetes, which he has had since he was 8. But the transport order appeared in Mower's letter by mistake. Hansen said that in most cases involving appeals, the transport order is needed, because the appeal subject is in prison and must be sent back to the county jail for processing and court appearances. Mower said he was relieved to learn Thursday that he would not be facing a new trial. "I think this is the right thing to do," he said. "It's about time they leave me alone." Mower said that when he received the letter indicating he should prepare to be transported to jail, he was alarmed. "It screwed up my health," he said. "My blood sugar was all over the place because of my emotions. I've been having a hard time keeping everything where it's supposed to be. "This is such a relief. You can't believe what a weight it is off my shoulders." In this case, however, Mower was not in prison, but living at home near Twain Harte with his wife, Laurie. Source: Record, The (CA)Author: Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau ChiefPublished: Friday, September 13, 2002 Copyright: 2002 The RecordContact: editor recordnet.comWebsite: http://www.recordnet.com/Related Articles:Marijuana Court Ruling May Open Door To Abuseshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13965.shtmlPot Backers Mull Court Rulinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13682.shtmlCourt Sends Victory To Marijuana Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13507.shtml
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