shanek
9th February 2004, 01:52 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,110796,00.html
Santa Cruz, Calif., police pulled over a car with tinted windows — a no-no in California — last September, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Inside they found two men and 18 ounces of "Purple Haze" brand marijuana worth about $3,000.
Leo Beus, 47, and his friend, Jon Balesteri, 54, were charged with transporting marijuana with intent to sell, but after they said they'd bought the weed at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Club — and produced medical prescriptions to prove it — the charges were eventually dropped.
Superior Court Judge Art Danner (search) on Wednesday ordered that since the marijuana, which had been seized as evidence, was entirely legal, the police had to return it to Beus and Balestri.
Of course, in this country, the police shouldn't even be taking people in for having marijuana in the first place, but one step at a time, I guess. Another good thing is that they didn't keep the marijuana as "asset forfeiture" as has been done often in the past.
What remains to be seen is whether or not the Feds will come in and prosecute them anyway, as they did with Ed Rosenthal.
Santa Cruz, Calif., police pulled over a car with tinted windows — a no-no in California — last September, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Inside they found two men and 18 ounces of "Purple Haze" brand marijuana worth about $3,000.
Leo Beus, 47, and his friend, Jon Balesteri, 54, were charged with transporting marijuana with intent to sell, but after they said they'd bought the weed at the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Club — and produced medical prescriptions to prove it — the charges were eventually dropped.
Superior Court Judge Art Danner (search) on Wednesday ordered that since the marijuana, which had been seized as evidence, was entirely legal, the police had to return it to Beus and Balestri.
Of course, in this country, the police shouldn't even be taking people in for having marijuana in the first place, but one step at a time, I guess. Another good thing is that they didn't keep the marijuana as "asset forfeiture" as has been done often in the past.
What remains to be seen is whether or not the Feds will come in and prosecute them anyway, as they did with Ed Rosenthal.