cannabisnews.com: Court: Inyokern Man Can Keep Marijuana





Court: Inyokern Man Can Keep Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on November 08, 2004 at 12:02:52 PT
By Laura Dobbins
Source: Daily Independent 
Noel Clarence Spark, 46, had his day in court and will be allowed to grow marijuana plants in his mother's backyard in Inyokern. Prosecutors dismissed marijuana cultivation charges Thursday against Noel, who said, he used the marijuana for medical purposes.The voter approved Compassionate Use Act of 1996 gives people the right to use and grow marijuana if they have a doctor's recommendation but a jury convicted Noel of marijuana cultivation in 2002. 
A judge ruled that Spark had to prove he was seriously ill but the 5th District Court of Appeal tossed out the case in August saying that Noel should not have been forced to prove he was seriously ill, and that only doctors could do so."It's about time they left him alone," said Zelma Spark, Noel's mother who lives in Inyokern.Zelma said the Kern County Sheriff's Department created her son's legal nightmare and that thousands of taxpayer dollars have been wasted to prosecute an innocent man."My son had to serve 72 months in jail. He was arrested two times and has lost everything he owned to pay legal fees. Now they say there isn't any evidence to prosecute him - now that they have wasted three years of his life," Zelma said. It became necessary for Noel to use marijuana after he injured his back first in 1986 when he fell off a ladder and later in 1988 when "his boss at a logging firm in Washington tried to kill him by pushing him off a loading dock."Noel started using marijuana to relieve his back pain when he learned of the 1996 law in California and began growing three plants in his mother's yard in Inyokern.It appears children living next door jumped into the Spark's yard one day and got a hold of the cannabis. The children's parents caught them with the drug and called the Sheriff's Department.Zelma said that's when the trouble began.According to Zelma two sheriff deputies showed up at her residence with no search warrant demanding to enter her house."Without my permission one of them entered the yard and trampled all over my tomatoes and yanked out the marijuana plants," Zelma said.She showed the deputies medical papers that allowed Noel to have the marijuana but was told by the deputies that in Kern County it was still against the law, Zelma said.The Sheriff's Department was called Saturday but no one was available for comment. Attempts to locate someone involved in the case were also made but no one could be reached by press time.The Sheriff's Department, however, said that when there is probable cause for search, such as in this case, an entry into the yard to retrieve evidence would be allowed.The Spark's contend the Sheriff's Department are liars and that the entire ordeal was a waste of over $1 million in tax payer money."They could have put away to murderers instead of a sorry XXX marijuana user," Noel said.It isn't the first time Noel has used marijuana medically.When he was a teen Noel said he used it to overcome epilepsy on recommendations by friends. Noel thinks it cured him."I didn't believe it would work but after using it about two years, it seems to have cured me," Noel said.Noel used weed between the ages of 15 and 19 before quitting for a while until he hurt his back.Now that Noel has been cleared of any criminal act, he said he may take legal action.Meantime he is waiting for the court to return his marijuana, although he would rather have the monetary amount of what the weed would be worth."After three years in their evidence file, it will be no good," Noel said. Source: Daily Independent (CA)Author: Laura DobbinsPublished: Sunday, November 7, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Daily IndependentContact: dieditor ridgecrestca.comWebsite: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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