Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
A Brighton medical marijuana user will not serve any additional jail time for his decision to openly grow marijuana in his backyard to treat his rheumatoid arthritis as well as his wife's breast cancer.
An attorney for Gary Katz said Thursday that his 59-year-old client's decision to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes in a locked, fenced-in area of his backyard without a roof was a mistake and that the probation office's recommendation of no jail time was appropriate.
"It was a mistake; it wasn't an intentional criminal act," defense attorney John A. Shea said. "I don't see the benefit of jailing someone who mistakenly interpreted the law before it was interpreted" by the judiciary.
However, Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Ryan called the probation's office's recommendation "completely unreasonable" due to Katz's history of trafficking in marijuana.
Katz has a 1999 conviction for a delivering/manufacturing 5-45 kilos of marijuana -- a charge that resulted after officers found a marijuana grow operation in the basement of his home.
In the current case, officers found 24 plants in Katz's backyard, which was surrounded by a locked 6-foot-tall fence. Twelve of the plants belonged to Katz. The other 12 plants belonged to his wife. Both were legally allowed to possess the marijuana under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act for their personal use for medicinal purposes.
Ryan said the Katz's marijuana was not merely plants, but "bushes" that topped 6 feet tall.
An undercover narcotics officer estimated that one marijuana plant could yield a pound of marijuana per year, which would sell for about $38,400 on the street.
"That amount ... is not personal use," Ryan argued.
Shea said "clearly" Katz "was trafficking" in the 1999 case, and he took "his lumps" for that by serving his time in prison. Shea said officers found no evidence -- such as a sale log -- indicating Katz was trafficking in drugs this time.
"He was growing marijuana he and his wife believed they were legally allowed to grow," Shea said.
Ryan asked Judge Michael P. Hatty to sentence Katz to at least four months in jail.
In the end, Hatty ordered Katz to spend one day in the county jail, time he has already served, and to spend two years on probation for manufacturing marijuana.
"You did grow marijuana in an unsecured spot," the judge told Katz. "Someone could have hopped the fence. ... Ignorance of the law is no defense."
Officers with the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team raided Katz's home in August 2010 after receiving a tip there was marijuana growing in the backyard.
Shea said Katz and his wife, who were both card-carrying medical marijuana patients, believed the locked fence around their backyard constituted a "locked, secure facility" as required in the state's medical marijuana act.
Prosecutors statewide have argued the lack of a roof on such a "facility" violates the law.
"I think they feel a bit bamboozled by the act," Shea said after the hearing. "It would have been nice ... to have guide posts before charging people with violating the ( act's ) provisions."
Michigan voters approved a ballot proposition in 2008 to allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes.
Shea said Katz has since let his medical marijuana card lapse. However, his wife still maintains her card.
Shea said although Katz's wife can still legally possess marijuana for her medicinal purposes as long as she follows the law, he believes it would be unwise for her to do so in the same home she shares with her husband.
"I think it would be dangerous for Gary to be around growing marijuana," Shea said frankly. "Would it constitute a violation for Mr. Katz's probation? I would like to say no, but I don't want to have to argue it to a judge."
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (MI)
Copyright: 2011 Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Contact: Livingston Daily | livingstondaily.com
Website: Livingston Daily
Details: MapInc
Author: Lisa Roose-Church
An attorney for Gary Katz said Thursday that his 59-year-old client's decision to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes in a locked, fenced-in area of his backyard without a roof was a mistake and that the probation office's recommendation of no jail time was appropriate.
"It was a mistake; it wasn't an intentional criminal act," defense attorney John A. Shea said. "I don't see the benefit of jailing someone who mistakenly interpreted the law before it was interpreted" by the judiciary.
However, Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Ryan called the probation's office's recommendation "completely unreasonable" due to Katz's history of trafficking in marijuana.
Katz has a 1999 conviction for a delivering/manufacturing 5-45 kilos of marijuana -- a charge that resulted after officers found a marijuana grow operation in the basement of his home.
In the current case, officers found 24 plants in Katz's backyard, which was surrounded by a locked 6-foot-tall fence. Twelve of the plants belonged to Katz. The other 12 plants belonged to his wife. Both were legally allowed to possess the marijuana under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act for their personal use for medicinal purposes.
Ryan said the Katz's marijuana was not merely plants, but "bushes" that topped 6 feet tall.
An undercover narcotics officer estimated that one marijuana plant could yield a pound of marijuana per year, which would sell for about $38,400 on the street.
"That amount ... is not personal use," Ryan argued.
Shea said "clearly" Katz "was trafficking" in the 1999 case, and he took "his lumps" for that by serving his time in prison. Shea said officers found no evidence -- such as a sale log -- indicating Katz was trafficking in drugs this time.
"He was growing marijuana he and his wife believed they were legally allowed to grow," Shea said.
Ryan asked Judge Michael P. Hatty to sentence Katz to at least four months in jail.
In the end, Hatty ordered Katz to spend one day in the county jail, time he has already served, and to spend two years on probation for manufacturing marijuana.
"You did grow marijuana in an unsecured spot," the judge told Katz. "Someone could have hopped the fence. ... Ignorance of the law is no defense."
Officers with the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team raided Katz's home in August 2010 after receiving a tip there was marijuana growing in the backyard.
Shea said Katz and his wife, who were both card-carrying medical marijuana patients, believed the locked fence around their backyard constituted a "locked, secure facility" as required in the state's medical marijuana act.
Prosecutors statewide have argued the lack of a roof on such a "facility" violates the law.
"I think they feel a bit bamboozled by the act," Shea said after the hearing. "It would have been nice ... to have guide posts before charging people with violating the ( act's ) provisions."
Michigan voters approved a ballot proposition in 2008 to allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes.
Shea said Katz has since let his medical marijuana card lapse. However, his wife still maintains her card.
Shea said although Katz's wife can still legally possess marijuana for her medicinal purposes as long as she follows the law, he believes it would be unwise for her to do so in the same home she shares with her husband.
"I think it would be dangerous for Gary to be around growing marijuana," Shea said frankly. "Would it constitute a violation for Mr. Katz's probation? I would like to say no, but I don't want to have to argue it to a judge."
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (MI)
Copyright: 2011 Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Contact: Livingston Daily | livingstondaily.com
Website: Livingston Daily
Details: MapInc
Author: Lisa Roose-Church
