Articles - Law Offices of Eric D. Shevin

Couple To Stand Trial On Marijuana Charges
September 28, 2002

A Superior Court judge on Friday ordered a Temecula couple to stand trial on charges of possessing marijuana for sale and cultivation of the cannabis plants they say they grew for medicinal purposes.

Martin and LaVonne Victor embraced in sobs outside the courtroom Friday morning after Judge James Watson's decision. "I'm not going to jail; I'll kill myself first," said LaVonne Victor, 45, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

Her husband was surprised by the ruling. "My God, all I did was want to take care of my wife," Martin Victor, 50, said. The couple was in court Friday for the third day of a preliminary hearing that started in late August and then was delayed for nearly a month. Watson ordered the couple to appear for an arraignment on the felony charges in the Hemet courthouse on Oct. 11.

The Victors' West Hollywood-based attorney, Eric Shevin, said after court Friday that his clients will prevail. "The universe protects good people and the Victors are good people; it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we are going to find it," he said.

The Victors are among those who have received written authorization from doctors to use marijuana under Proposition 215, a 1996 California initiative that legalized the use of medicinal marijuana. A Santa Barbara doctor had written letters in August 2001, authorizing the Victors to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Dr. David Bearman testified during the August portion of the preliminary hearing that he had approved the legal use of marijuana for Martin Victor, who was diagnosed with optical edema. LaVonne Victor received letters authorizing legal marijuana use after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and panic attacks.
Each county in the state sets its own standard on how much people are allowed to grow under Prop. 215. Riverside County allows the amount possessed to not exceed that necessary for medicinal purposes. The county does not specify, however, what amounts would fit into the "necessary for medicinal purposes" description.

However, during Friday's hearing, the Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Brewer said that the defense had admitted the couple used only 6 ounces of marijuana a month between them ---- which over a 12-month period would equal about one-fifth of the amount deputies are alleged to have found in the couple's home in the October raid.

Temecula Police Chief Jim Domenoe testified that he had spoken with Martin Victor twice nearly a year before the couple's arrest, when Victor called to make inquiries about what he needed to do before growing marijuana at his home, and to get clarification about enforcement policies.

Domenoe said he told Victor during the first call that he was uncertain what the implications of Prop. 215 were for the Victors. And in a second call, a few days later, he said, he told Victor that while state law might allow him to have the marijuana, federal law was another matter, and if a federal agent saw the plants, he could be subject to arrest.

"What criminal in their right mind would call the police and tip them off, before they go out and commit the crime?" Shevin asked after Friday's hearing, implying the Victors truly believed they were not breaking the law.

When deputies raided the couple's home in October, Brewer said, they found 15.7 pounds of marijuana in mason jars, 6.2 pounds in trash bags and eight plants being cultivated on the couple's property. Of those eight plants, five had buds that could have been harvested to bring in another half-pound of marijuana apiece, she said.

A handful of supporters and at least one marijuana advocate showed up in support of the Victors at Friday's hearing.

Lanny Swerdlow of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project was outraged at the decision. "They were legitimate marijuana users; nothing was offered as evidence of sales," he said. "The judge is bending over backward to kiss the butt of (Riverside County District Attorney) Grover Trask."

Source: North County Times
Posted by CN Staff on September 28, 2002
By John Hall, Staff Writer

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