July 25, 1999
From The Auburn Journal
ElPatricio@aol.com
http://www.auburnjournal.com/
By Dena Erwin, Journal Staff Writer

CHARGES DROPPED IN MEDIPOT CASE

Prosecutor Cites Small Number Of Plants Seized From Citrus Heights Couple

Charges against a medical marijuana user have been dropped by the Placer County District Attorney’s Office.

According to Deputy District Attorney Dave Tellman, Chris J. Miller will not be prosecuted for possessing five plants and 12 seedlings found at his Citrus Heights home in March.

"The small number of plants, his serious medical condition documented through years of medical records and the absence of any indication that he was selling all led up to our conclusion," Tellman said.

Miller, who said he became "100 percent disabled" through a series of motorcycle and automobile accidents, obtained a physician’s recommendation in September, 1997, to use marijuana to ease chronic pain, arthritis and muscle spasms.

After several cannabis clubs that he was a member of closed down, Miller said he had little choice but to grow his own marijuana as allowed by Proposition 215, California’s Compassionate Use law approved by voters in 1996.

"We followed the guidelines really close," Miller said. "We tried to comply."

Tellman said Miller established an affirmative defense under Prop. 215 and the charges were dropped because "we couldn’t convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt."

See
Desperate Placer County DA To Retry Dentist And Wife On Marijuana Charges That Split Jury
– Implications For Kubby Case

Miller said his medical recommendation, as well as his sister’s, were on display in an outdoor shed where five plants, each about 2- to 3-feet tall, and 12 clones, or seedlings, were found during the service of a search warrant by the Placer County sheriff’s Marijuana Eradication Team.

Tellman said misdemeanor charges are still pending against Miller’s wife, Penny, who did not possess the required physician’s recommendation.

But Miller said his wife did have a caretaker recommendation, allowing her to have marijuana in her home.

(Marijuananews note: From Prop 215:
(d) Section 11357, relating to the possession of marijuana, and Section 11358, relating to the cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a patient, or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician.

"She didn’t use (marijuana) because she didn’t have any medical problems," he said.

Miller, who is anxiously awaiting the return of his growing equipment, said he is "strongly considering" suing the county for wrongful arrest, in part because the incident was "very upsetting" to his entire family, including his 10-year-old daughter who witnessed the raid.

See
How Much More Will Bad law Enforcement Cost the Taxpayers of California?
Learning to Take Human Rights Seriously
– Or Why Dehumanizing People Is An Expensive Delusion

The DA’s decision comes on the eve of the trial of Steve and Michele Kubby, former county residents arrested in January on marijuana cultivation and sales charges. The trial could be the highest profile test of Prop. 215 yet.

Steve Kubby ran unsuccessfully for governor last year on the Libertarian ticket and openly espoused the use of medicinal marijuana. He and his wife were arrested at their Olympic Valley home after members of the North Tahoe Task Force served a search warrant Jan. 19 and found 265 growing marijuana plants.