cannabisnews.com: Jury Close to Verdict in Kubby Pot Trial 





Jury Close to Verdict in Kubby Pot Trial 
Posted by FoM on December 21, 2000 at 16:37:02 PT
By Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer 
Source: Auburn Journal
Confident of Steven and Michele Kubby's potential acquittal on marijuana-possession-for-sale charges, defense attorney J. David Nick said Wednesday he'll press for continued deliberations when an apparently deadlocked jury returns today in Auburn.Nick said he believes one juror is opposing acquittal of the Kubbys.
The eight-woman, four-man Placer County Superior Court panel began deliberations Friday and has now spent four, 6½-hour sessions behind closed doors.Nick said he was shown a note from the jury to the judge Wednesday indicating an 11-1 split on most charges. Given jury body language and other clues since deliberations began, Nick said he believes the lone holdout favors conviction on some of the charges against the Kubbys.The note from the jury was viewed in judge's chambers and didn't indicate whether the 11-1 votes were for conviction or acquittal, Nick said. But one of the vote totals showed a 12-0 vote – on a charge against Michele Kubby of possession of a magic mushroom stem, Nick said. The same charge against Steve Kubby was 11-1, he said. Nick, who represents Michele Kubby, said there was "absolutely no evidence" indicating his client knew anything about the presence of the mushroom in the couple's home. "I can't imagine one holdout for acquittal," Nick said. "The prosecution had a weak case to begin with."The Kubbys were arrested on several drug-related charges after a January 1999 raid on their Olympic Valley home netted 265 pot plants at various stages of growth. Both had recommendations from doctors allowing them to use and grow cannabis for medicinal purposes under Proposition 215. The prosecution contends the yield from the plants was more than the Kubbys could use and any excess was being sold to Bay Area cannabis buyers clubs.The jury is to return to court this morning to continue deliberations. Nick said he felt that releasing the contents of the jury's note was allowable because it would become part of the public record for the trial.Steven Kubby ran as Libertarian Party candidate for governor in 1998. Two years earlier, he was a key to securing funding that helped put Prop. 215 on the ballot. Adopted by voters in 1996, the Compassionate Use Act allows people with doctors' recommendations to grow and use medical marijuana. Source: Auburn Journal (CA)Author: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff WriterPublished: December 21, 2000Phone: (530) 885-6585Copyright: 2000 The Auburn JournalAddress: 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603Contact: ajournal foothill.netWebsite: http://www.auburnjournal.com/Breaking News: Kubby Jury Verdict: Kubby Jury Verdict Upholds Oakland Guidelines Newshawk: Steve KubbyPubdate: December 21, 2000Source: Point (SC)Contact: scpoint mindspring.comAddress: P.O. Box 8325 Columbia, SC 29202Fax: (803) 808-3781Website: http://www.mindspring.com/~scpoint/point/index.htmlFeedback: http://www.mindspring.com/~scpoint/point/feedback.htmlJurors upheld the Oakland Guidelines and hung 11-1 to acquit Steve and Michele Kubby of all marijuana charges.Except for the one hold-out juror, all the other jurors recognized and supported the Guidelines.Michele Kubby was acquitted of all remaining charges.Steve Kubby was found guilty of felony possession of a mushroom stem and a minute quantity of peyote. The jury had originally voted to acquit, but reversed itself and voted to convict today, after having the legal definition of a usable quantity re-read to them. Steve will return on February 2 for sentencing."We won the important battle for recognition of the Oakland Guidelines. Even in conservative Placer County, jurors will not convict a bona fide patient who follows the Oakland Guidelines. The other charges are unfortunate, but we'll deal with that issue at the appropriate time." said Kubby. THE AMERICAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA ASSOCIATION15 Monarch Bay Plaza, Box 375, Dana Point, Ca 92629E-mail: amma drugsense.orgWeb site: http://www.drugsense.org/amma/Join our List: http://www.drugsense.org/amma/Related Articles & Web Site:The Kubby Fileshttp://www.kubby.org/CannabisNews Articles - Steve Kubbyhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=kubby 
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Comment #1 posted by nl5x on December 21, 2000 at 19:20:44 PT
Oakland Guidelines
OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Marijuana advocates praised the city council in Oakland Wednesday after it approved one of most liberal medical marijuana measures in the country by allowing patients to keep 1-1/2 pounds of the drug for "personal use." "This a landmark move," said Jeff Jones, head of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Club. Oakland is across the bay from San Francisco. See Under Jeff Jones, Oakland Buyers Club Endures In Spite of Troubles Elsewhere"Oakland is the first city in the country to adopt guidelines which will allow medical patients to possess and cultivate the medicine they need." The Oakland City Council late Tuesday approved a policy directing police not to target individuals or confiscate their marijuana if it falls within guidelines set by the city. Those guidelines, the broadest set down since California voters in 1996 approved a state law allowing medical use of marijuana, say patients with a valid doctor’s prescription may keep 30 outdoor marijuana plants, 48 indoor plants or 1.5 pounds of bulk marijuana. Oakland officials say the amounts were intended to allow patients a three month supply of marijuana and were established on the basis of U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests on the drug that ration users to ten marijuana cigarettes per day. California Attorney General Dan Lungren, a staunch opponent of medical marijuana, has set his own guidelines for permissible amounts of the drug—two plants or one ounce, an amount he says should be enough for 30 days. See Lungren Sued for Thwarting Prop 215; Suit Asks State to Allow Counties and Cities to Distribute Medical Marijuana andThe Libertarian Orange County Register Editorializes against Lungren’s Attacks on Medical Marijuana and Prop 215Lungren spokesman Matt Ross said Wednesday that these guidelines should be sufficient. "We just hope that law enforcement would do the right thing when stopping an individual with a pound and a half of marijuana," he said. In Oakland, a three-month supply would be allowed, which according to the proposed guideline amounts to 30 outdoor flowering plants, 48 indoor flowering plants or 1 ½ pounds of bulk marijuana.If all the plants aren’t flowering - and thus not harvestable - then users would be able to keep 96 on hand indoors or 60 outdoors.No more than 144 plants would be allowed. Users would have to be able to provide proof of medical use to police. If they do not provide proof within two days, their marijuana would be forfeited.That differs dramatically from Lungren’s guidelines, which allow only two plants, or 1 ounce on hand. The attorney general has determined that amounts to a 30-day supply."I’m surprised at the figures they came up with," said Matt Ross, a Lungren spokesperson. "It’s rather staggering."The two policies differ on the basis for calculating usable marijuana Lungren’s maintains that one pound of marijuana is obtained from a single plant, while Oakland Cannabis Club representatives say that includes unusable parts of a plant, like the stem branches, leaves and root ball.Only a flowering bud is used for medicinal marijuana, and that means one plant only produces a half-ounce of usable cannabis, said attorney Robert Raich, who is representing the club in the federal lawsuit."They are assuming a plant is the size of a Christmas tree, not some thing a user would grow in his closet he said. "We are trying to be realistic.Although the council unanimously passed the 1 ½-pound policy two weeks ago, Mayor Elihu Harris and De La Fuente demanded that the issue be brought back because they did not realize they were voting in favor of it. 7
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