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A former Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary operator and his two managers, who are facing trial on drug charges, will ask today that a search warrant used in the case be quashed. Stacy Hochanadel, the former owner of CannaHelp, and managers James Campbell and John Bednar, all 31, were arrested in December 2006, and charged with felony possession of marijuana for sale, transport and sale of marijuana, and keeping a place to sell controlled substances.
The three contend they were running a legal medical marijuana business under Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420. Under California law, marijuana can be sold on a not-for-profit basis to patients with a doctor's prescription, although it is illegal under federal law.
In ordering the three to stand trial, Judge Eric G. Helgesen of Tulare County said Dec. 7 it appeared the defendants violated the law because the dispensary was profitable, generating well over $1 million in sales.
Bednar's attorney, Phillip La Rocca, said Thursday that evidence from a search warrant on the dispensary should be ruled inadmissible because the affidavit filed in support of the warrant, "misstated the law on medical marijuana and was full of conclusions not supported by facts."
According to the affidavit, a sheriff's investigator said surveillance of the El Paseo dispensary indicated the customers weren't really sick.
"That's something that's not observable, and the magistrate who approved the search warrant was misled," La Rocca said.
Marijuana and financial records were seized at CannaHelp, 73359 El Paseo, in December 2006 during a raid by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
During December's preliminary hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to order the defendants to stand trial, sheriff's investigator Robert Garcia testified that CannaHelp generated $1.6 million from the sale of marijuana.
He also conceded the defendants never tried to hide their business from law enforcement and that it would be unfair to compare them to street-level drug dealers.
Garcia testified that an undercover officer twice purchased marijuana on the premises for what he said was a back problem.
He also conceded that CannaHelp tried to comply with the law and that the dispensary refused to sell to the first undercover officer who tried to purchase marijuana because employees could not verify his doctor's prescription.
The three defendants have been allowed to remain free on their own recognizance on the condition that they do not obtain marijuana in excess of what the law allows. All three men are medical marijuana cardholders with prescriptions for the drug. They also cannot sell the drug or provide it to patients in a care-giving capacity.
If convicted, they could be sentenced to 16 months to two years in prison, prosecutors said.
Source: DeSun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2008 The Desert Sun
Contact: MyDesert.com | Contact Us | The Desert Sun
Website: MyDesert.com | The Desert Sun | Palm Springs news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Palm Springs, California
The three contend they were running a legal medical marijuana business under Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420. Under California law, marijuana can be sold on a not-for-profit basis to patients with a doctor's prescription, although it is illegal under federal law.
In ordering the three to stand trial, Judge Eric G. Helgesen of Tulare County said Dec. 7 it appeared the defendants violated the law because the dispensary was profitable, generating well over $1 million in sales.
Bednar's attorney, Phillip La Rocca, said Thursday that evidence from a search warrant on the dispensary should be ruled inadmissible because the affidavit filed in support of the warrant, "misstated the law on medical marijuana and was full of conclusions not supported by facts."
According to the affidavit, a sheriff's investigator said surveillance of the El Paseo dispensary indicated the customers weren't really sick.
"That's something that's not observable, and the magistrate who approved the search warrant was misled," La Rocca said.
Marijuana and financial records were seized at CannaHelp, 73359 El Paseo, in December 2006 during a raid by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
During December's preliminary hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to order the defendants to stand trial, sheriff's investigator Robert Garcia testified that CannaHelp generated $1.6 million from the sale of marijuana.
He also conceded the defendants never tried to hide their business from law enforcement and that it would be unfair to compare them to street-level drug dealers.
Garcia testified that an undercover officer twice purchased marijuana on the premises for what he said was a back problem.
He also conceded that CannaHelp tried to comply with the law and that the dispensary refused to sell to the first undercover officer who tried to purchase marijuana because employees could not verify his doctor's prescription.
The three defendants have been allowed to remain free on their own recognizance on the condition that they do not obtain marijuana in excess of what the law allows. All three men are medical marijuana cardholders with prescriptions for the drug. They also cannot sell the drug or provide it to patients in a care-giving capacity.
If convicted, they could be sentenced to 16 months to two years in prison, prosecutors said.
Source: DeSun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2008 The Desert Sun
Contact: MyDesert.com | Contact Us | The Desert Sun
Website: MyDesert.com | The Desert Sun | Palm Springs news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Palm Springs, California
