U.S. District Judge Wants to Avoid Mandatory Five-Year Term

 A federal judge has again postponed sentencing of a California man convicted of operating a city-licensed medical cannabis dispensary. The case of Charles Lynch has become a focal point for the national debate over medical marijuana, with local officials, patients, and advocates pleading for leniency, while federal prosecutors demand a five-year prison sentence. Defense attorneys have asked that Lynch be sentenced to time already served, the four days he was held before posting bond.

“If I could find a way out, I would,” U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said. He gave attorneys until June 2 to file new sentencing briefs.

The sentencing was initially delayed after defense attorneys asked Judge Wu to take into consideration statements from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that indicated the government would not prosecute anyone who complied with state medical marijuana laws. The judge asked for written clarification from the Department of Justice as to whether federal policy changes would impact Lynch’s sentencing.

In a brief, the U.S. Attorney for the case stated that “the Deputy Attorney General has reviewed the facts of this case and determined that the investigation, prosecution, and conviction of defendant are entirely consistent with the policies of DOJ and with public statements made by the Attorney General with respect to marijuana prosecutions.”

At the latest sentencing hearing, prosecutors said Lynch was not legally entitled to distribute marijuana under state law because he was not a “primary caregiver” and that he profited from his business. 

 That view was refuted by ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who briefed the court on the state legislature’s clarification of the law and the new state Attorney General guidelines, which both contain provisions specific to the legal operation of cannabis dispensing collectives of the sort Lynch operated.

Lynch, 47, ran a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, California from 2006 to 2007 and with the blessing of the Morro Bay City Council, the local Chamber of Commerce, and other community leaders. Before his medical marijuana dispensary was raided by DEA agents in March of 2007, Lynch had operated for 11 months without incident. After a federal trial that excluded evidence about state law and the patients he was helping, Lynch was convicted of violating federal drug laws last year.

“It’s bad enough that the Justice Department is accusing Lynch of violating state law in order to sentence him in federal court, but there is not even any evidence that state law was violated,” said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford. “It’s disingenuous to accuse people of state law violations and then prosecute them under federal law, thereby denying them an adequate defense.”

Because of the June 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Raich, federal medical marijuana defendants are prohibited from entering evidence related to medical marijuana or their compliance with local and state laws. With more than two dozen pending federal medical marijuana cases, advocates are demanding that the government cease prosecutions or transfer them to state court where evidence can properly be heard.

“It’s time for the Obama Administration to act on its commitment to change federal medical marijuana policy,” said Elford. “Pending federal cases should be moved to state court, where juries can hear the whole truth.”