Marijuana Grower's Bid For Dismissal Denied

[Ganjarden]

A Pueblo judge has denied the request of a marijuana farmer to throw out charges against him based on how the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office searched his property.

Thomas Sexton, 55, is charged with cultivating marijuana. The charge stems from a raid in August 2007 at Sexton's Beulah property, where signs were posted claiming the agricultural operation was being conducted in accordance with Colorado's medicinal marijuana law.

Sexton is the designated caregiver to dozens of Coloradoans who hold physician-approved cards that entitle them to grow, possess and use the drug to ease the severity of various medical conditions.

Sexton's lawyer, Karl Tameler, argued that the sheriff's department had an obligation to inform the judge who issued the search warrant that a claim of innocence existed before executing the search. The judge had issued the search warrant before investigators were aware that Sexton had posted signs making claims of legitimacy.

Prosecutor Anthony Marzavas countered that the 128 marijuana plants found on Sexton's property exceeded the maximum allowed for the number of patients reflected on the sign. A detective from the sheriff's office, when confronted with a provision in the medicinal pot law that provides for possession of additional plants when a doctor approves it, said he wasn't aware of that caveat to the law.

Furthermore, Sexton's lawyer challenged the presence of two deputies on the property before the warrant was issued. Those deputies testified they found Sexton's sign but did not report it to other investigators in a helicopter, whose statements were the basis for the search warrant.

District Judge David Crockenberg ruled that there was no basis for the deputies on the ground to enter Sexton's property before the search warrant was issued. Nonetheless, the judge ruled that their presence and the information contained on Sexton's sign “would not have changed the finding of probable cause to grant the search warrant.”

So the case against Sexton will continue. He is scheduled to appear in court this week for setting of a trial date.


News Hawk- Ganjarden http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: The Pueblo Chieftain
Author: Patrick Malone
Contact: The Pueblo Chieftain
Copyright: 2009 The Pueblo Chieftain
Website: Marijuana Grower's Bid For Dismissal Denied