Judge gives back 60 Pounds of Marijuana to Defendant…But Don’t get Too Excited

You may have heard that  Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Sterling returned 60 pounds of marijuana to a man accused of illegally transporting it and possessing it for sale (two different charges ).  The defendant, Saguro Doven, a member of a medical marijuana collective in Venice, was caught by CHP with the 60 pounds while driving down the 101 to make a delivery to the collective.

Doven claimed he was  allowed to transport the weed under the Medical Marijuana Program Act (known by it’s bill number in the legislature as “SB420″…no, we’re not kidding) and under the 2008 California Attorney General guidelines for medical marijuana collectives.

But these newfangled marijuana laws are not what won the day,  people make the same argument in courts all over the state and routinely lose.  The courts are under no obligation to follow the 2008 guidelines and many judges  are very skilled at finding ways to get around the Medical Marijuana Act.   In fact, Doven did lose at the preliminary hearing in this case.  He only won after filing a motion to dismiss with another judge in the courthouse (called a “995 motion” for those playing along at home).

So how did Doven win?  Good old-fashioned police incompetence.

It seems that the prosecution put up a CHP Sergeant who claimed to be an “expert” in narcotics and marijuana trafficking law.  Turns out this cop was not up to speed on the medical marijuana laws.  Under cross-exam from Doven’s attorney, the Sarge admitted that he  really had no idea what constituted legal possession of marijuana as opposed to illegal possession of marijuana under Califorinia’s medical marijuana laws.   Doven’s attorney then argued that since the cop didn’t know medical marijuana law,  he’s not really an “expert” on marijuana laws and his ” testimony must be disregarded.  Judge Sterling agreed and threw out the possession for sale charge, the DA then had no choice but to  drop the transportation charge and fold.  Once there were no more charges, Doven got his weed back because he was never found guilty of doing anything illegal with it.  The end.

The bottom line is this: If you think that this is some big victory for the marijuana legalization movement, think again.  All that happened here is that the police screwed up, a defense attorney did his job competently, and the judge followed the law.  It’s really no big deal.  And you better believe that the CHP  narcotic and marijuana “experts” are going to be getting some schooling from the DA’s Office about how to beat a medical marijuana defense.  This is not a mistake that the L.A. County CHP will make again.

The bummer for Doven is that the weed was confiscated back in December of 2008 and has likely been sitting in a CHP evidence locker since then..it won’t be the same fresh, green and shiny 60lbs he originally parted with, that’s for sure.