cannabisnews.com: D.A. Testimony Sought in Pot Trial 





D.A. Testimony Sought in Pot Trial 
Posted by FoM on October 13, 2000 at 07:04:29 PT
By Jessica R. Towhey, Journal Staff Writer
Source: Auburn Journal
Prosecutors in the Placer County District Attorney's Office may find themselves on the witness stand during the prosecution of medical marijuana proponents Steve and Michele Kubby.Attorney J. David Nick, part of the legal team defending the couple on charges that include cultivating marijuana for sale, said Thursday in the North Auburn courtroom that he intends to call District Attorney Brad Fenocchio and Deputy District Attorneys Christopher Cattran and Gene Gini to testify about their role in the Kubby investigation.
However, Nick said he doesn't believe either Cattran or Gini did anything wrong, other than follow Fenocchio's orders during an extensive investigation of the Kubbys' marijuana growing operation in their rented Olympic Valley home."The bull's-eye here is Brad Fenocchio," Nick said.The District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the prospect of prosecutors being called to the stand."We don't try our cases in the press – we try our cases in court," Gini said.Superior Court Judge John L. Cosgrove denied a defense motion on technical grounds Wednesday to recuse the Placer County District Attorney's Office from trying the case, claiming the prosecutors were involved in the investigation six months prior to the Kubbys' Jan. 19, 1999 arrest. Judicial rules require the motion be filed 10 days prior to the hearing. Wednesday was the ninth day after the motion was filed.Nick said he would refile the motion, and indicated Cosgrove may issue a judicial ruling shortening the time before the motion could be heard. If the motion is granted, the case would be turned over to the California Attorney General's Office.During cross-examination Thursday of Mitch Pier, an investigator with the Nevada Division of Investigation, several of Nick's questions focused on when and why Cattran arrived at the Kubbys' home during the execution of the search warrant.Cosgrove sustained two prosecution objections to Nick asking if Pier had been told to expect Cattran's arrival and if Cattran announced why he was at the home. Cattran also objected to Nick saying he would put the prosecutor on the stand to answer questions about his presence at the residence."I recall showing him the different growing rooms," Pier said of Cattran. "It was my impression he had never seen anything like that before, so I was giving him a tour."According to diagrams of the Kubbys' home, the subsection of the house was split into four growing areas: the large east grow room, the north and northwest rooms with dirt instead of flooring, and a bathroom where the shower had been converted into a two-level nursery.Pier, who took part in collecting evidence from the growing areas, testified he discussed the on-going case with Cattran, as he was the only representative from the District Attorney's Office at Lake Tahoe. It was the North Lake Tahoe Narcotic Task Force, to which Pier was assigned, that served the search warrant on the Kubbys.Although Nick attempted to ascertain if Pier believed the evidence found at the Kubbys' home excited Cattran, Cosgrove upheld Cattran's objections to the line of questioning.Significant players in the passage of California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996, the Kubbys face a combined 19 counts of possession for sale, cultivation and conspiracy to sell marijuana.The Kubbys argue they grew and used the drug for medicinal reasons. Michele Kubby suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and Steven Kubby was diagnosed 20 years ago with a rare form of adrenal cancer. Steven Kubby claims marijuana keeps the disease in check, and his attorneys have said he smokes nearly 12 pounds of the drug annually.The trial continues Tuesday in Department 10 of the DeWitt Center. Note: Kubby case continues in North Auburn courtroom.Source: Auburn Journal (CA)Published: October 13, 2000Phone: (530) 885-6585, ext. 143Author: Jessica R. Towhey, Journal Staff WriterCopyright: 2000 The Auburn JournalContact: Jessica R. Towhey, Journal Staff WriterAddress: 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603Website: http://www.auburnjournal.com/Related Articles & Web Site:The Kubby Fileshttp://www.kubby.com/CannabisNews Articles - Steve Kubbyhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=kubbyCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 13, 2000 at 12:21:51 PT:
Jury Sees Tape of Pot Raid on Placer Couple's Home
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)Author: Wayne Wilson, Bee Staff Writer Published: Oct. 13, 2000Copyright: 2000 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comAddress: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento CA 95852Website: http://www.sacbee.com/Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.htmlFeedback: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.htmlJurors watched solemnly and Michele Kubby wept quietly Thursday as the prosecution showed a videotape of the 1999 raid that resulted in the arrest of Kubby and her husband on drug charges.The Kubbys, staunch advocates of the medicinal use of marijuana, were growing pot in the lower level of their three-level home in Olympic Valley when members of the North Lake Tahoe Drug Enforcement Task Force knocked on their door and served a search warrant at 9:44 a.m. on Jan. 19 of last year.Michele Kubby, 34, answered the door and led the officers upstairs to the master bedroom, where a shirtless Steve Kubby, 53, the Libertarian Party's 1998 candidate for governor, accepted the warrant and finished dressing while Michele rounded up their young daughter.The Kubbys are on trial in Placer County Superior Court on charges of conspiracy, possession for sale and cultivation of marijuana.Steve Kubby says a conviction and prison term would be tantamount to a death sentence because in prison he would be deprived of the drug that he claims has kept him alive for many years in the face of a malignant cancer.Prosecutors have rejected the Kubbys' claims that they were growing the marijuana for medical reasons, declaring in pretrial motions that "neither defendant was seriously ill, as defined by the statute, at the time the marijuana was found in their rented home."The videotape documents the discovery of 265 plants, many of them in a very early stage of development, being nurtured by lights, timers, fans and water in several rooms on the lower level of the Kubby home.Shown on the stairway wall were posters -- one of them headlined "ATTENTION LAW ENFORCEMENT" and bordered in red -- suggesting the gardens comply with provisions of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act passed by California voters in 1996.Undeterred, an officer begins pulling the plants from their pots, roots and all, and stuffing them in large paper bags.Based on the videotape timer, it takes 49 minutes to bag the mature plants, but just three or four minutes to pluck 77 2-inch sprouts from trays found in a bathroom shower.Michele Kubby said her viewing of the videotape brought back feelings of the moment when "an army of policemen armed with laser-sighted guns invaded the privacy of my home with my husband and little girl there."The trial will resume on Tuesday. 
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: