cannabisnews.com: Court of Appeal Throws Out Marijuana Conviction Court of Appeal Throws Out Marijuana Conviction Posted by CN Staff on September 01, 2004 at 10:54:34 PT By MetNews Staff Writer Source: Metropolitan News-Enterprise An Orange County man’s conviction for possessing marijuana was thrown out yesterday by an appellate panel that held his right to a “compassionate use” defense under Proposition 215 had been violated. In a 2 to 1 decision, the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s Div. Three granted Shaun Wright a new trial on charges of transporting marijuana and possessing it for sale, leaving intact his conviction for driving with a suspended license, to which he pled guilty. The justices said Orange Superior Court Judge James A. Stotler was in error when he barred Wright’s attorney from presenting evidence in support of a Proposition 215 defense and declined to instruct the jury regarding the measure. The initiative provides that a defendant charged with possessing or cultivating marijuana may assert as a defense that he was using the drug for medicinal purposes on a doctor’s recommendation. Stotler based his order on his conclusion that the quantity of marijuana in Wright‘s possession, 19 ounces, precluded his claim that he only had the drug for personal medicinal use. Wright was arrested by Huntington Beach officers who stopped him as he was leaving a carwash. According to testimony, the officers had received an anonymous tip that there was marijuana in Wright’s pickup truck. After one of the officers approached the truck, noticed a backpack on the seat, and smelled the odor of marijuana, he asked Wright to step out and eventually seized marijuana from his person as well as from the backpack. At a hearing outside the presence of the jury, Wright testified that he has used marijuana for medicinal purposes since 1991, to relieve the pain of various physical injuries. He said he both smokes the drug and adds it to his food. A physician, specializing in alternative medicine, testified that he had seen Wright three months before his arrest and approved the use of marijuana to relieve the pain. Justice William Bedsworth, writing for the Court of Appeal, said the issue of whether Wright possessed more marijuana than he might reasonably need to relieve his symptoms was “a jury call.” Nothing in Proposition 215, the jurist noted, specifies the strength, quality, or quantity of marijuana that will qualify as medicinal. “Taken as a whole, it is safe to say the evidence was reasonably susceptible of different interpretations,” he wrote. “While a rational trier of fact could certainly find that Wright possessed the marijuana in his truck for monetary, not medical, reasons, Wright presented sufficient evidence to support a contrary conclusion if believed....The amount of marijuana, the scales found in his car and the packaging of the marijuana diminish his chances of success with that defense, but California law—as many a chagrined trial judge will attest—does not bar defenses on the basis they are unlikely to succeed.”Justice Eileen Moore concurred in the opinion. Presiding Justice David Sills, dissenting, accused the majority of trying to rewrite Proposition 215. “[The initiative] states, in quite straightforward language, that it applies to a person charged with simple possession or cultivation of marijuana as found in Health and Safety Code sections 11357 or 11358; no other charge is exempted from prosecution,” the jurist wrote. The fact that jurors could have found him guilty of simple possession as a lesser included charge, but did not, indicates that Wright could not have prevailed on a compassionate use defense in any event, Sills argued. The case is People v. Wright, G031061.Complete Title: Court of Appeal Throws Out Marijuana Conviction, Rules Compassionate Use Defense Wrongly BarredSource: Metropolitan News-Enterprise (CA)Published: Wednesday, September 1, 2004Copyright: 2004 Metropolitan News CompanyWebsite: http://www.metnews.com/Contact: http://www.metnews.com/contact.htmMedical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by BGreen on September 01, 2004 at 14:33:32 PT Nol owns 3 coffeeshops in Haarlem, NL They've got some of the best cannabis you can get at a coffeeshop in the Netherlands and Nol keeps the prices down, also.You can read about this story on the Cannabis Culture website.The Reverend Bud Green Dutch pot hero wrongfully imprisoned [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 14:23:46 PT Sounds wonderful, BGreen Thank you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 01, 2004 at 14:18:53 PT BGreen Thank You! That's great news! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by BGreen on September 01, 2004 at 14:15:38 PT Nol van Schaik Is FREE!!!!! More good news for everybody, especially Nol!The Reverend Bud Green**********************************************************NOL IS FREE!!!That's right! You hear it good. He is a free man again! Today 01/09/2004 was the day that the judge has spoken that he is a free man. More details about the case will follow very soon. I would like to thank for all the e-mails you all have send to Nol.More will follow soon! Green Greetings Jim aka CoolZero the webmaster!http://www.hempcity.net/cannabisshops/news/news17062004/index.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by siege on September 01, 2004 at 13:50:58 PT accused Presiding Justice David Sills, dissenting, accused the majority of trying to rewrite Proposition 215 [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by The GCW on September 01, 2004 at 13:47:21 PT The slow process includes Judges all being exposed to family members benefiting from the miraculous reality of cannabis.I sense that one of those Judges, Justice William Bedsworth seen it for Himself, the way He resisted the devil’s advocate stance in favor of love’s advocate.Judges that see it for themselves are touched. They can not ignore that, when their fate is ahead of them and they know it.Pain.It seems as though all of Us are going to die.Cannabis doesn’t stop or change that.Cannabis is for while We are still here.Truth may even help in numbing physical pain.If You want to do everything You can to relieve pain; You must include using Cannabis in the regiment.A bicycle racer must do many things right to win. Racers that win may be doing 25 cycling specific things right, for the sake of better results.To rid of pain, a person may be doing many things right and to go further a person must consider using a simple plant, with the blessing of knowing God said all the plants are good on the 1st page of the Bible.People should be allowed to do everything they can to control pain.Jesus Christ insists.Jesus Christ is The Christian and He says use the plant.Anyone who says otherwise can not look into Your eyes and honestly say they follow Jesus Christ.Those who say the opposite of Jesus Christ can say they are Christian, but Jesus Christ disagrees. The Green Collar Worker [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 12:00:55 PT Sam I think there's a bit more justice in this ruling than we are used to seeing. True, it should never have happened. But things that shouldn't happen, do happen. At least to see this bit of truth and justice come twinkling out of a pile of excrement is better than no justice, ever. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on September 01, 2004 at 11:51:26 PT The cops should be on trial not the sick person. There's no justice in this country. Send the brutal thugs to jail NOW. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 01, 2004 at 11:37:52 PT It Sounds Good To Me Hope it seems good to me too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 11:32:44 PT Joy This sounds good unless I'm misreading it. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment