The first federal prosecution of a California medi-pot patient-caregiver in three years began last week in federal court in Fresno, Calif., with the trial of 60-year-old former Marine Dustin Costas, former president of the Merced Patients Group, a private cannabis club formed in the wake of the 1996 passage of California’s Proposition 215, which legalized medi-pot use, cultivation, and possession by seriously ill patients. Costas was arrested and charged in 2004 on state marijuana trafficking charges, but the case was handed over to the feds for prosecution since under state law Costas would be able to use medi-pot law in his defense. Under federal law, however, Costas will be barred from doing so – to the feds, marijuana use, possession, and cultivation is always illegal. Indeed, U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii ruled that Costas may not use the state’s medi-pot law as part of his defense, reports the Fresno Bee, unless Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar raises the issue first – and that ain’t likely to happen.
Duplicitous as it may be, it appears that’s the way the feds intend to roll on the Costas case – since the feds don’t like and don’t recognize the law as legitimate, they have the right to act as if it just doesn’t exist. Indeed, last month Escobar asked Ishii to issue a ruling barring court spectators from wearing any pro medi-pot T-shirts or pins, because, the daily reported, the display of “paraphernalia” might influence jurors. Costas’ defense attorney, Robert Rainwater, countered that if Ishii were to issue such a ruling, it would also need to cover Escobar, who was wearing a “DEA” lapel pin – a bit of pro-narco paraphernalia that, under her argument, might also be construed as attempting to influence jurors. Ishii denied Escobar’s request, reportedly telling the attorneys that as long as the spectators’ garb is “discreet,” it shouldn’t pose any problems.
Costas is facing a three-count indictment for possessing more than 100 pot plants; if convicted on any count, he’ll face at least a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence, reports the Bee. The Drug Reform Coordination Network notes that in the last federal medi-pot patient trial in California in 2003, Ed Rosenthal was similarly barred from using the state’s medi-pot law as part of his defense. Rosenthal was convicted on federal pot charges, but when jurors later heard about the related medi-mari defense, several revolted and publicly denounced the trail and verdict. In the end, the judge in the case sentenced Rosenthal to a single day in jail.
This article appears in November 17 • 2006.