By: Eugene Davidovich
San Diego -- Today at the San Diego Federal Courthouse medical marijuana patients saw a tremendous victory in court. In front of a courtroom filled to the brim with supporters wearing green solidarity ribbons, James Stacy was just sentenced to 2 years probation for operating a medical marijuana dispensary in Vista Ca.
Mr. Stacy’s dispensary Movement in Action was raided in September of 2009 as part of San Diego DA Bonnie Dumanis’ Operation Green Rx raids on over a dozen dispensaries in San Diego.
Just two months ago Stacy was facing a mandatory minimum of 5 years in Federal Prison with the possibility of life. Shortly before his trial was supposed to begin in November of last year, the US Attorney’s office made an offer which included three years probation and no jail time, if Stacy pled guilty to one count of manufacturing marijuana (cultivation).
After careful consideration Stacy signed the deal.
Today Judge Moskowitz heard from the probation department, which recommended that Stacy be incarcerated for thirteen months as well as go to drug rehab.
Both the Judge and US Attorney disagreed with the report and stated multiple times how Mr. Stacy was in clear and unambiguous compliance with state law, and that no jail time was warranted.
Judge Moskowitz took extra time to modify the terms of Stacy’s probation to make them less restrictive and even reduced the original 3 year probation recommendation to 2 years.
The US Attorney’s office agreed and Mr. Stacy walked out of that courtroom today not in custody and to a hallway filled with his supporters and friends.
Watch this San Diego ASA News Brief for James Stacy’s reaction after his sentencing as well as for the complete story:
Showing posts with label James Stacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Stacy. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Sentencing for Vista pot shop owner set for Friday
PROSECUTORS HAVE AGREED TO RECOMMEND PROBATION, NOT JAIL
By TERI FIGUEROA - North County Times
A Vista man who pleaded guilty last fall to federal charges related to his medical marijuana dispensary is set to be sentenced on Friday, with prosecutors agreeing to recommend probation instead of jail time, according to court documents.
Even with the recommendation of probation, the fate of James Stacy, 46, lies in the hands of U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz during a sentencing hearing in the judge's San Diego federal courtroom.
Stacy had faced nine federal drug charges arising from a raid of his now-shuttered Vista dispensary, Movement in Action. In October, he pleaded guilty to a single charge: manufacturing marijuana.
Stacy's medical marijuana shop on South Santa Fe Avenue was one of 14 San Diego County shops raided by local and federal authorities Sept. 9, 2009. Read More...
By TERI FIGUEROA - North County Times
A Vista man who pleaded guilty last fall to federal charges related to his medical marijuana dispensary is set to be sentenced on Friday, with prosecutors agreeing to recommend probation instead of jail time, according to court documents.
Even with the recommendation of probation, the fate of James Stacy, 46, lies in the hands of U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz during a sentencing hearing in the judge's San Diego federal courtroom.
Stacy had faced nine federal drug charges arising from a raid of his now-shuttered Vista dispensary, Movement in Action. In October, he pleaded guilty to a single charge: manufacturing marijuana.
Stacy's medical marijuana shop on South Santa Fe Avenue was one of 14 San Diego County shops raided by local and federal authorities Sept. 9, 2009. Read More...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
RX FEST II - This Sunday 4:20pm - Berkeley Ferry Boat - San Diego Maritime Museum
This Sunday at 4:20pm if you are anywhere near San Diego, you absolutely need to stop by James Stacy's RX FEST 2. The event will be filled with great Bands, Exhibitors, Speakers, Food, and lots of education about Cannabis!
Help raise money for James Stacy as well as awareness for the cause! Share this email with a fried and help spread the word about this event!
Stacy was raided as part of Dumanis’ fierce fight against medical marijuana providers and patients in San Diego, and has refused to take a plea bargain, instead is organizing the second medical marijuana convention in San Diego!
This is a historic event in San Diego that will help raise funds for James Stacy and his Federal Medical Marijuana fight, against continued harassment, prosecution, and intimidation of legitimate medical marijuana patients attempting to follow the law.
RX Fest 2 will feature an exciting evening of exhibitors, three bands, and a number of speakers at the world famous Berkeley Ferry Boat located at the San Diego Maritime Museum on historic Harbor Drive in San Diego.. Admission is $5 and the event is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Meet with national advocacy groups, medical collectives, doctors, lawyers, insurance specialists and alternative health care professionals from all over San Diego County and around the state. Listen to great speakers like Judge Grey and Lanny Swerdlow, RN, and learn the latest in medical cannabis law, regulations, as well as our strategy for Safe Access in San Diego.
For years now the DEA, Narcotics Task Force and the San Diego District Attorney’s office have been terrorizing patients in San Diego through vindictive, bias driven prosecutions, raids, and outright harassment. You can help the victims of this reefer madness propaganda campaign, and San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’ fierce fight against patients stand up for their rights.
By supporting this event, and helping raise money for James Stacy and are helping put a stop to the cycle of plea bargains and we can begin to hold the responsible parties in our government accountable for their actions of waste, fraud, and abuse.
James Stacy is the only defendant currently being prosecuted in Federal Court from the 9/9/9 raids. All proceeds from this Concert & Expo directly benefits Stacy’s ability to continue his fight without accepting a plea.
Come support our heroes and learn more about the medical marijuana movement!
Sponsors include: Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), KUSH Magazine, NUG Magazine, CA NORML, and many more!!
Directions and Parking The Maritime Museum of San Diego (Berkely FerryBoat) is located on Harbor Drive near the corner of Ash Street just a few blocks West of interstate 5. From interstate 5 North or South take the "Airport" exit. Look for signs on the freeway and after exiting on to surface streets that read "Embarcadero-Maritime Museum." They will direct you to the museum. Street Address : Maritime Museum of San Diego - 1492 North Harbor Drive San Diego, CA 92101
If you are not able to make the event, please share it with a friend and help us get the word out!
If you are interested in exhibiting at the event or being a sponsor, there is still time to get a booth! Call James Stacy for more information: T: (760)758-8500 - movementinaction@gmail.com
San Diego Americans for Safe Access
www.SafeAccessSD.org
Get Involved, get active, make a difference!
Join ASA - www.safeaccessnow.org
Monday, October 11, 2010
James Stacy Prosecution Continues; Federal Trial to start in November
By: Eugene Davidovich
SAN DIEGO – In March of 2009, the current administration announced “they would not prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers whose actions are consistent with state medical marijuana laws.” At least that’s what the California Legislative Analyst told Californians in the voters guide for the November 2010 elections. (1)
Approximately six month after the Presidential announcement in October of 2009, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo urging all federal prosecutors and other agencies to “not focus federal resources in States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana”. (2)
A month prior to the October 2009 DOJ memo and only ten weeks after opening, James Stacy was charged in federal court following a raid on the Movement in Action dispensing collective in Vista, CA, making him the first medical marijuana provider to be tried under the new federal policy.
The dispensary was raided on 9/9/9 the same day over a dozen other medical marijuana dispensaries were raided in San Diego County as part of District Attorney (DA) Bonnie Dumanis’ fierce fight against medical marijuana patients, dubbed by her office as “Operation Green Rx”.
A few weeks prior to the raid, an undercover detective armed with a legitimate medical marijuana recommendation and a valid California ID came into the collective, presented all the appropriate paperwork, completed the membership agreements, and was allowed to join.
The detective posing as a legitimate patient was distributed a small amount of medicine and prior to leaving asked Stacy if he could contribute to the effort with labor and not just financially. According to police reports, Stacy welcomed the offer and told the undercover specifically what he could do around the facility that did not involve a financial contribution.
Stacy is the only defendant from the September raids who was charged in federal court, has refused all deals, and has taken his case to trial. The reason for his case going to federal court where he has no defense versus state where he would have been found in clear and unambiguous compliance with state law, still remains a mystery, and is a question the U.S. Attorney prosecuting Stacy has refused to answer.
In a recent article on change.org, Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation’s largest medical marijuana advocacy group wrote, “In many ways, James Stacy is no different than hundreds of other dispensary operators in California. In fact, most federal defendants take plea bargains and never go to trial, mainly because they know they will have no defense against their charges. Truth has been taken out of federal trials to appease government prosecutors and the DEA in their effort to undermine state medical marijuana laws.” (3)
Much like other federal cases, in Stacy’s case, U.S. District Court Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz precluded him from presenting any evidence of medical marijuana in the trial (5), including barring the defense from talking about the Presidential announcement of March 2009, the DOJ memo issued in October of 2009 as well as the fact that Movement in Action was a medical marijuana dispensary operating in full compliance with state law.
Judge Moskowitz ruled that any reasonable man or woman having read or heard the memo and announcement would NOT have interpreted them to mean that the Federal government was changing their policy with regards to medical marijuana prosecutions. It would appear that under this ruling, the California Legislative Analyst as well as the hundreds of thousands of citizens who understood the announcements to mean "they would not prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers whose actions are consistent with state medical marijuana laws", are not reasonable.
Since the ordeal began in September of 2009 Stacy’s case has garnered national attention and outrage from thousands of patients across the state who believed the administration’s announcements and thought the Federal intervention in State’s medical marijuana laws was over.
Stacy himself has become an outspoken advocate of patient’s rights and HR 3939 the “Truth in Trials Act”, which if passed by Congress would allow federal defendants to present “evidence during trial that the activities they were engaged in were performed in compliance with their state’s duly-enacted medical marijuana laws.” (6)
In response to Stacy’s activism, and refusal to accept a deal, the U.S. Attorney’s throughout the last year filed three indictments against Mr. Stacy turning the original counts into eight trumped up charges.
The latest charges include ‘distribution of a controlled substance to someone under twenty one’. The prosecution claims they found two patients in the dispensary records that were ‘underage’. One of the patients was nineteen and the other twenty years old at the time of their membership.
The other charge in the most recent indictment was one not heard of before in these types of cases, a charge for being an ‘Illegal drug user’. The prosecution claims that since Stacy admitted to being a medical marijuana patient and because there is no allowed medical use of marijuana under federal law, that he was an ‘Illegal’ drug user.
After the most recent superseding indictment, the defense filed several motions asking the court to dismiss the trumped up charges as well as to address the vindictiveness of the prosecution against Stacy.
On Wednesday of last week, Stacy was back in court, where Judge Moskowitz heard oral arguments regarding the motions filed by the defense. Kasha Castillo, Stacy’s Federal Public Defender argued that there was no clear definition in the law about what constitutes a ‘legal’ versus an ‘Illegal’ user, making this statute unconstitutionally vague.
The U.S. Attorney fired back stating that marijuana was not a medicine and had no accepted medical use, making Stacy an illegal drug user.
There were no oral arguments heard about the underage or vindictive prosecution charges as both attorneys agreed to submit those arguments in writing. Judge Moskowitz declined to rule on the motions that day and said he would issue a written decision within the week.
The next court date in Stacy’s case is set for October 20th at 10:30am in Courtroom 15, where motions in limine will be heard. The trial set to start on November 1, 2010
Aside from not taking a deal and advocating for HR 3939, Stacy has successfully organized and put on a medical marijuana convention in San Diego, with the second one dubbed Rx Fest II (7), planned for October 24 from 4:20pm – 9:30pm at the Maritime Museum on board the Berkeley Ferry Boat. That day hundreds of medical marijuana patients and concerned citizens will come together to help raise money for James Stacy as he goes through the Federal trial.
References:
SAN DIEGO – In March of 2009, the current administration announced “they would not prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers whose actions are consistent with state medical marijuana laws.” At least that’s what the California Legislative Analyst told Californians in the voters guide for the November 2010 elections. (1)
Approximately six month after the Presidential announcement in October of 2009, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo urging all federal prosecutors and other agencies to “not focus federal resources in States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana”. (2)
A month prior to the October 2009 DOJ memo and only ten weeks after opening, James Stacy was charged in federal court following a raid on the Movement in Action dispensing collective in Vista, CA, making him the first medical marijuana provider to be tried under the new federal policy.
The dispensary was raided on 9/9/9 the same day over a dozen other medical marijuana dispensaries were raided in San Diego County as part of District Attorney (DA) Bonnie Dumanis’ fierce fight against medical marijuana patients, dubbed by her office as “Operation Green Rx”.
A few weeks prior to the raid, an undercover detective armed with a legitimate medical marijuana recommendation and a valid California ID came into the collective, presented all the appropriate paperwork, completed the membership agreements, and was allowed to join.
The detective posing as a legitimate patient was distributed a small amount of medicine and prior to leaving asked Stacy if he could contribute to the effort with labor and not just financially. According to police reports, Stacy welcomed the offer and told the undercover specifically what he could do around the facility that did not involve a financial contribution.
Stacy is the only defendant from the September raids who was charged in federal court, has refused all deals, and has taken his case to trial. The reason for his case going to federal court where he has no defense versus state where he would have been found in clear and unambiguous compliance with state law, still remains a mystery, and is a question the U.S. Attorney prosecuting Stacy has refused to answer.
In a recent article on change.org, Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation’s largest medical marijuana advocacy group wrote, “In many ways, James Stacy is no different than hundreds of other dispensary operators in California. In fact, most federal defendants take plea bargains and never go to trial, mainly because they know they will have no defense against their charges. Truth has been taken out of federal trials to appease government prosecutors and the DEA in their effort to undermine state medical marijuana laws.” (3)
Much like other federal cases, in Stacy’s case, U.S. District Court Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz precluded him from presenting any evidence of medical marijuana in the trial (5), including barring the defense from talking about the Presidential announcement of March 2009, the DOJ memo issued in October of 2009 as well as the fact that Movement in Action was a medical marijuana dispensary operating in full compliance with state law.
Judge Moskowitz ruled that any reasonable man or woman having read or heard the memo and announcement would NOT have interpreted them to mean that the Federal government was changing their policy with regards to medical marijuana prosecutions. It would appear that under this ruling, the California Legislative Analyst as well as the hundreds of thousands of citizens who understood the announcements to mean "they would not prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers whose actions are consistent with state medical marijuana laws", are not reasonable.
Since the ordeal began in September of 2009 Stacy’s case has garnered national attention and outrage from thousands of patients across the state who believed the administration’s announcements and thought the Federal intervention in State’s medical marijuana laws was over.
Stacy himself has become an outspoken advocate of patient’s rights and HR 3939 the “Truth in Trials Act”, which if passed by Congress would allow federal defendants to present “evidence during trial that the activities they were engaged in were performed in compliance with their state’s duly-enacted medical marijuana laws.” (6)
In response to Stacy’s activism, and refusal to accept a deal, the U.S. Attorney’s throughout the last year filed three indictments against Mr. Stacy turning the original counts into eight trumped up charges.
The latest charges include ‘distribution of a controlled substance to someone under twenty one’. The prosecution claims they found two patients in the dispensary records that were ‘underage’. One of the patients was nineteen and the other twenty years old at the time of their membership.
The other charge in the most recent indictment was one not heard of before in these types of cases, a charge for being an ‘Illegal drug user’. The prosecution claims that since Stacy admitted to being a medical marijuana patient and because there is no allowed medical use of marijuana under federal law, that he was an ‘Illegal’ drug user.
After the most recent superseding indictment, the defense filed several motions asking the court to dismiss the trumped up charges as well as to address the vindictiveness of the prosecution against Stacy.
On Wednesday of last week, Stacy was back in court, where Judge Moskowitz heard oral arguments regarding the motions filed by the defense. Kasha Castillo, Stacy’s Federal Public Defender argued that there was no clear definition in the law about what constitutes a ‘legal’ versus an ‘Illegal’ user, making this statute unconstitutionally vague.
The U.S. Attorney fired back stating that marijuana was not a medicine and had no accepted medical use, making Stacy an illegal drug user.
There were no oral arguments heard about the underage or vindictive prosecution charges as both attorneys agreed to submit those arguments in writing. Judge Moskowitz declined to rule on the motions that day and said he would issue a written decision within the week.
The next court date in Stacy’s case is set for October 20th at 10:30am in Courtroom 15, where motions in limine will be heard. The trial set to start on November 1, 2010
Aside from not taking a deal and advocating for HR 3939, Stacy has successfully organized and put on a medical marijuana convention in San Diego, with the second one dubbed Rx Fest II (7), planned for October 24 from 4:20pm – 9:30pm at the Maritime Museum on board the Berkeley Ferry Boat. That day hundreds of medical marijuana patients and concerned citizens will come together to help raise money for James Stacy as he goes through the Federal trial.
References:
- http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/pdf/english/19-title-summ-analysis.pdf
- http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192
- http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/without_truth_in_trials_medical_marijuana_defendants_have_no_hope_of_justice
- http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/U.S._v_OCBC.pdf
- http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/Stacy_Ruling.pdf
- http://www.safeaccessnow.org/section.php?id=354
- Rx Fest II - For more information or to reserve an exhibitor space please call 760-758-8500 or email movementinaction@gmail.com
Monday, June 14, 2010
COURT SUPPORT TODAY FOR JAMES STACY
Join Steph Sherer, Executive Director and Don Duncan the California Director of Americans for Safe Access in Federal Court today to support James Stacy in his federal Medical Marijuana Trial.
What: Federal hearing on whether dispensary operator James Stacy can use medical marijuana and state law as a defense at trial
When: MONDAY, June 14, 2010 at 2:00pm
Where: Courtroom 15, U.S. District Court, 940 Front Street, San Diego, CA
James Stacy will be in court today for a final hearing to determine what type of defense he will be allowed to present in Federal Court. Stacy’s dispensary was raided on September 9, 2009, by a multi-agency narcotics task force, and will be the first such case to go to trial after the Justice Department issued its enforcement policy in October 2009, a month after the raid. Stacy's trial date will be scheduled Monday June 14th during a hearing at which Stacy will argue he's entitled to admit evidence of state law compliance, something routinely denied federal defendants.
Stacy's dispensary, Movement in Action, was raided along with more than a dozen other San Diego County dispensaries as part of local-federal enforcement actions called, "Operation Green Rx," which resulted in more than 30 arrests. Only Stacy, and one other medical marijuana dispensary operator Joseph Nunes, were charged federally as a result of the raids. Nunes has since pleaded guilty and was recently sentenced to a year in prison.
Because of the government's continued efforts to prosecute medical marijuana patients despite a new Justice department enforcement policy, advocates are urging Members of Congress to pass HR 3939, the Truth in Trials Act, which would allow defendants to use a medical or state law defense in federal court. The Truth in Trials Act currently has more than 30 Congressional cosponsors.
Further Information:
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's recent statements before Congress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMCHmU-nFAM
Truth in Trials Act: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/TruthinTrials.pdf
Join ASA – www.safeaccessnow.org
Visit San Diego Chapter of ASA – www.safeaccesssd.org
What: Federal hearing on whether dispensary operator James Stacy can use medical marijuana and state law as a defense at trial
When: MONDAY, June 14, 2010 at 2:00pm
Where: Courtroom 15, U.S. District Court, 940 Front Street, San Diego, CA
James Stacy will be in court today for a final hearing to determine what type of defense he will be allowed to present in Federal Court. Stacy’s dispensary was raided on September 9, 2009, by a multi-agency narcotics task force, and will be the first such case to go to trial after the Justice Department issued its enforcement policy in October 2009, a month after the raid. Stacy's trial date will be scheduled Monday June 14th during a hearing at which Stacy will argue he's entitled to admit evidence of state law compliance, something routinely denied federal defendants.
Stacy's dispensary, Movement in Action, was raided along with more than a dozen other San Diego County dispensaries as part of local-federal enforcement actions called, "Operation Green Rx," which resulted in more than 30 arrests. Only Stacy, and one other medical marijuana dispensary operator Joseph Nunes, were charged federally as a result of the raids. Nunes has since pleaded guilty and was recently sentenced to a year in prison.
Because of the government's continued efforts to prosecute medical marijuana patients despite a new Justice department enforcement policy, advocates are urging Members of Congress to pass HR 3939, the Truth in Trials Act, which would allow defendants to use a medical or state law defense in federal court. The Truth in Trials Act currently has more than 30 Congressional cosponsors.
Further Information:
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's recent statements before Congress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMCHmU-nFAM
Truth in Trials Act: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/TruthinTrials.pdf
Join ASA – www.safeaccessnow.org
Visit San Diego Chapter of ASA – www.safeaccesssd.org
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
TWO PATIENTS NEED YOUR SUPPOR - WEDNESDAY - June 9, 2010
COURT SUPPORT AT 8:30am (Heather Larney) & 10:30am (James Stacy) in FEDERAL COURT
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Presenting Medical MJ Truth in a San Diego - James Stacy Federal Court
SAN DIEGO – Medical marijuana patient, collective director, James Dean Stacy, on May 19th, 2010 at 10:30am will be appearing in San Diego Federal Court. His collective, Movement In Action (www.movementinaction.org) was raided on September 9, 2010, in District Attorney (DA) Bonnie Dumanis’ raids on medical marijuana collectives and Mr. Stacy was arrested, charged in Federal Court, and is now facing a Federal Jury Trial and the possibility of life in prison.
Since the latest round of Operation Green Rx raids began in August of 2008, San Diego DA Dumanis, has lost both cases that went to trial in State Court. Realizing that she stands no chance in state court it seems that she has redirected her efforts and taken a new approach.
Dumanis has enlisted the efforts of US Attorney Karen P. Hewitt, and has filed charges on legitimate patients and collectives in Federal court, going against the standing orders from President Obama not to target legitimate medical marijuana collectives in states where they are legal.
On Wednesday May 19, 2010, history will be made in San Diego, in Courtroom 15, at the Federal Courthouse at 940 Front St. in downtown San Diego, where U.S. Federal Judge Moskowitz will decide if medical marijuana patient James Dean Stacy will be allowed to tell the Truth in his trial.
Mr. Stacy is arguing entrapment by estoppel based on statements made by President Obama during his presidential campaign and then his first year in office, as well as the U. S. Attorney General Holders statements, both of which in summary say that the Federal government would stop prosecutions, investigations, and arrests of legal medical marijuana collective members and patients.
Ignoring this order, and the will of the California voters, Dumanis and Hewitt in partnership with the local Narcotics Task Force arrested 31 collective members in a swat style raid last September, and rumors have it, are planning more ways to harass collectives and patients.
Mr. Stacy, one of those charged federally, refused to be bullied by the prosecutor into a plea deal, and is fighting the charges. His case has the potential to set precedent throughout the state with his defense. Mr. Stacy is asking to simply tell the whole truth to the jury in during his trial.
The Federal government currently does not allow defendants to tell the jury that they are a legitimate medical marijuana patient in compliance with California State law. The mention of this fact is vigorously fought by the prosecutor.
On May 19th we will find out if the jury will be allowed to hear the Whole Truth.
Come out and support Mr. Stacy as he stands up for our rights against the misguided policies of the Federal Government and our bias driven local DA and US Attorney.
San Diego Americans for Safe Access
www.SafeAccessSD.org
Get Involved, get active, make a difference!
Join ASA - www.safeaccessnow.org
Thursday, April 15, 2010
James Stacy Federal San Diego Medical MarijuanaTrial Update
Last year an undercover detective came in to the collective pretending to be a legitimate patient. The detective presented a current and authentic medical marijuana letter of recommendation as well as a CA drivers license. After completing all the required membership agreements and going through the member screening process, he joined the collective and purchased a small amount of medicine.
According to the police reports, while in the collective, the detective asked whether he could contribute to the effort in other ways besides financially reimbursing the collective for the medicine. James explained to him that he could work at the collective, help out, and contribute in other ways.
In a recent San Diego City Beat Article, Dave Maas wrote that “Stacy says he did the due diligence: He researched the prosecutorial policies articulated by Holder, hired a lawyer to walk him through the process and corresponded with the California Secretary of State’s (SOS) office on how to file for “public benefit” status, the technical term for a California nonprofit. The SOS even provided him with a copy of the state Attorney General’s guidelines for running a collective. Unlike many of the other collectives where the San Diego Regional Narcotics Task Force ran stings, Stacy opted for a low-profile model because, he says, “I didn’t want people who didn’t need to know to have it in their face.”
Less than 2 months later on 9/9/9, the San Diego NTF, raided James’ collective, arrested him, and charged him with sales, cultivation, and manufacturing of cannabis, during the raid, at the collective the NTF detectives found a registered firearm and have charged James with possession of the firearm in connection with running an “illegal operation”.
The collective was operating in full compliance with state law, and the US Attorney office has suggested that they agree with that fact. Kasha Kastillo the federal public defender representing James in this case, has filed numerous motions attempting to get the case dismissed or at the least sent to state court, with no prevail.
Although James suffers from daily chronic pain, he has complied with all requirements of his federal indictment including not using medical cannabis, which has taken a negative toll on his life. In a recent hearing James’ attorney asked the court to allow James to medicate. San Diego ASA was at the hearing to hear the prosecution's demand that as a result of this request James be drug tested weekly.
The Judge explained to both sides that he could not give authorization for James to medicate as this was Federal Court and marijuana was still considered an illegal substance but at the same time refused to implement the drug testing requirements.
James next hearing is April 21, 2010 at 3:00pm in Courtroom 15. Come out to the San Diego Federal Courthouse at 940 Front St. San Diego CA, 92101 to support James Stacy in court.
This hearing is critical to the case as it is when the Judge will decide whether to allow James to use his medical marijuana defense at trial.
James Stacy’s trial is currently scheduled to begin on April 26, 2010 in San Diego Federal Court, 940 Front St San Diego CA 92101. Today James told San Diego ASA that his attorney tells him the trial might be postponed till August. We will continue to keep a close eye on James’ case and update the community if the dates change.
How you can help James Stacy Today:
1. Help HR 3939 Pass! This is new Federal Legislation known as the “Truth in Trials” act, which would allow Federal defendants to present the medical marijuana defense in federal court. One in four Americans now lives in a state with laws governing medical marijuana. Unfortunately, law-abiding citizens can still be prosecuted on federal marijuana-related charges as Mr. Stacy is being prosecuted in San Diego. Even with the Obama Administration’s new guidelines, federal prosecutors can still block defendants from showing that they were in compliance with state law.
The “Truth in Trials” Act, H.R. 3939, would end this injustice by ensuring that federal defendants could present evidence showing that they were following state law. Introduced by US Representative Sam Farr, this important legislation would give law-abiding citizens the ability to defend themselves in federal court. Urge your Member of Congress to cosponsor "Truth in Trials" today by completing and submitting the following online form CLICK HERE TO URGE CONGRESS TO PASS HR 3939
2. Send James an email of support letting him know that the community is behind him 100% in this difficult time, that we will be there in court to support him throughout the trial, that his fight is our fight and that we admire, appreciate, and support James standing up for our rights against this injustice! James can be reached at movementinaction@gmail.com
3. Donate to James, to help him and his family get through this nightmare. Visit his website and click on the DONATE link! http://movementinaction.org/donte/
To find out more about James’ case please visit www.movementinaction.org
Eugene Davidovich
San Diego Americans for Safe Access
www.SafeAccessSD.org
Get Involved, get active, make a difference!
Join ASA - www.safeaccessnow.org
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Judge won't dismiss medical marijuana case under Obama made me do it defense.
Greg Moran, San Diego Union Tribune
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
James Stacy, the Vista medical marijuana dispensary owner facing federal drug charges, has lost an intriguing bid to have the charges against him thrown out.
Stacy had argued that President Obama, when he was Candidate Obama, had basically said he wouldn't prosecute medical marijuana providers who were complying with state law, and that Stacy had relied on that -- and later statements by Attorney General Eric Holder -- to launch his business.
He also said the prosecution violated the Tenth Amendment because it "commandeered" local law enforcement to enforce federal policy. The intriguing arguments received some attention after first being reported by San Diego CityBeat in December.
In an 11-page ruling Moskowitz said, essentially, nice try.
Comments made by Obama and one of his campaign flaks cited by Stacy "cannot be deemed representations of the federal government regarding drug-prosecution policy." There's no evidence Stacy even heard those statements or that any government official told him selling medical marijuana was OK under federal policy. Holder's statements were "vague," "loose" and did not rule out that the feds could still prosecute medical marijuana cases.
As for the Tenth Amendment argument, the judge said there was no evidence that the San Diego Sheriff's Office was forced to participate in the investigation and raids of dispensaries in the county. "Voluntary cooperation by the Sheriff's Department or other state agencies does not give rise to a Tenth Amendment claim," he wrote.
So now it looks like it is on to trial for Stacy. The judge did leave the door open a bit. He said he would decide later whether Stacy and his lawyer, Kasha Kastillo, could use the Obama-told-me-I-could argument, known as entrapment by estoppel, as a defense at trial.
Federal prosecutors are moving to head that off, filing a motion last Friday asking Moskowitz to ban that defense, as well as several others. Trial is set for April 26.
Stacy was one of two people charged federally in a sweep of dispensaries launched in the fall. He opened the Movement in Action dispensary four months or so before the raids occurred. One of the reasons he may have ended up in federal court is that investigators found a gun in the dispensary and, even under Obama guidelines relaxing prosecutions of dispensaries that comply with state law, that can lead to a federal charges being filed.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/minute-orders-courts/2010/mar/16/judge-wont-dismiss-medical-marijuana-case-under-ob/
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
James Stacy, the Vista medical marijuana dispensary owner facing federal drug charges, has lost an intriguing bid to have the charges against him thrown out.
Stacy had argued that President Obama, when he was Candidate Obama, had basically said he wouldn't prosecute medical marijuana providers who were complying with state law, and that Stacy had relied on that -- and later statements by Attorney General Eric Holder -- to launch his business.
He also said the prosecution violated the Tenth Amendment because it "commandeered" local law enforcement to enforce federal policy. The intriguing arguments received some attention after first being reported by San Diego CityBeat in December.
In an 11-page ruling Moskowitz said, essentially, nice try.
Comments made by Obama and one of his campaign flaks cited by Stacy "cannot be deemed representations of the federal government regarding drug-prosecution policy." There's no evidence Stacy even heard those statements or that any government official told him selling medical marijuana was OK under federal policy. Holder's statements were "vague," "loose" and did not rule out that the feds could still prosecute medical marijuana cases.
As for the Tenth Amendment argument, the judge said there was no evidence that the San Diego Sheriff's Office was forced to participate in the investigation and raids of dispensaries in the county. "Voluntary cooperation by the Sheriff's Department or other state agencies does not give rise to a Tenth Amendment claim," he wrote.
So now it looks like it is on to trial for Stacy. The judge did leave the door open a bit. He said he would decide later whether Stacy and his lawyer, Kasha Kastillo, could use the Obama-told-me-I-could argument, known as entrapment by estoppel, as a defense at trial.
Federal prosecutors are moving to head that off, filing a motion last Friday asking Moskowitz to ban that defense, as well as several others. Trial is set for April 26.
Stacy was one of two people charged federally in a sweep of dispensaries launched in the fall. He opened the Movement in Action dispensary four months or so before the raids occurred. One of the reasons he may have ended up in federal court is that investigators found a gun in the dispensary and, even under Obama guidelines relaxing prosecutions of dispensaries that comply with state law, that can lead to a federal charges being filed.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/minute-orders-courts/2010/mar/16/judge-wont-dismiss-medical-marijuana-case-under-ob/
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Obama Entrapped Me
Medical-pot provider mounts a novel criminal defense in federal court
By Dave Maass, San Diego CityBeat
More than most citizens, James Dean Stacy feels betrayed by the candidate for whom he voted for president.
Up and down the campaign trail, from Los Angeles to Medford, Ore., then-Sen. Barack Obama and his spokespeople pledged that he would end the aggressive raids by the U.S. Department of Justice of medical-marijuana dispensaries operating legally under state law. The candidate said it was a waste of resources that would be better dedicated to fighting terrorism and prosecuting violent crime. Obama said he didn’t see any meaningful difference between marijuana and prescriptions such as morphine and that providers should be protected, excepting those who blatantly use medical-cannabis laws as a shield for otherwise dubious drug trafficking.
When he assumed office, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder echoed the sentiments during several meet-the-new-DOJ appearances in California and New Mexico—“You will be surprised to know that the Justice Department will be acting in a manner consistent with what [the president] said during the campaign”—and, in October, Holder formalized the policy in a set of guidelines distributed to U.S. Attorney offices.
By then, Stacy had been running a medical-marijuana collective, Movement in Action, for five months in the space adjacent to his martial-arts dojo in Vista.
“I’m the most follow-the-rules kind of guy around, so I thought I was the perfect guy to do it,” Stacy tells CityBeat. “When the collective was open, I’d have days where we’d turn away as many as 10 people who didn’t have the proper paperwork.”
In a Dec. 10 court motion, Stacy says he did the due diligence: He researched the prosecutorial policies articulated by Holder, hired a lawyer to walk him through the process and corresponded with the California Secretary of State’s (SOS) office on how to file for “public benefit” status, the technical term for a California nonprofit. The SOS even provided him with a copy of the state Attorney General’s guidelines for running a collective. Unlike many of the other collectives where the San Diego Regional Narcotics Task Force ran stings, Stacy opted for a low-profile model because, he says, “I didn’t want people who didn’t need to know to have it in their face.”
Stacy told undercover officers that they could provide labor to the collective in exchange for medicine and invited them to a “farmers market,” where patients could buy directly from growers—practices he felt were in keeping with the spirit of the California AG’s guidelines. Nevertheless, on Sept. 9, he was arrested after his collective and 13 others were raided.
Now, Stacy is one of only two collective operators who have been charged in federal court as a result of the raids. He faces one count of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, one count of manufacturing marijuana and one count of possession of a firearm while committing the other crimes—a handgun was found in the locker where he kept the collective’s supply.
The other federal defendant, Joseph Nunes of Green Kross Collective, pleaded guilty to his charges earlier this month. Stacy, however, says he’s not giving in to the prosecution.
“I quote my wife: ‘I’m not going to let you plead guilty to something you didn’t do,’” says Stacy, who uses marijuana to treat pain from martial-arts injuries and to relieve the nausea he’s suffered since losing his gall bladder. “They threatened life-imprisonment at both of my bail hearings.... This is nothing but a terrorist attack against the medical-marijuana community.”
Instead, Stacy is mounting a novel defense: The statements by Obama and Holder constitute entrapment by estoppel, defined as when an official tells someone that something is legal, then busts them for it. Put plainly, Stacy would not have formed the collective if the government hadn’t assured legal collectives that they wouldn’t be prosecuted.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office does not comment on pending cases, and Ben LaBolt, a White House spokesman whose pro-medical-marijuana statements were directly cited in the court filing, did not respond to inquiries.
The entrapment defense draws from a “fundamental notion of fairness: The individual must have fair warning of what conduct the government intends to punish,” Stacy’s attorney, Kasha Castillo of Federal Defenders of San Diego, writes in the recent motion. Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz has agreed to hear the motion—which includes a request that the case be dismissed or, alternately, Stacy be allowed to present the entrapment defense in court—on Feb. 3.
When CityBeat first posted a summary of the motion on its blog, Lastblogonearth.com, and linked it from the Huffington Post, some commentators wrote it off as a gratuitous and foolish attempt to claim that a candidate’s campaign promises are as good as laws passed by Congress. However, defense attorneys say it isn’t just a novel approach; rather, it’s a potential groundbreaking solution to a longstanding paradox in federal medical-marijuana cases.
San Diego County Deputy Public Defender Juliana Humphrey explains that, historically, medical-marijuana patients and caregivers have been barred from saying they were acting in good-faith under California law because it has not been considered a legitimate defense under federal law.
“Most of the time, the common thought is that trial defendants are getting some kind of advantage because everything is sterilized for the defendant’s benefit,” says Humphrey, who chaired the city of San Diego’s Medical Cannabis Task Force in 2002. “But in this case, it completely keeps from the jury the truth of the motivation of the person that possesses or provides the marijuana for the benefit of the government.”
Last month, a San Diego jury in state Superior Court acquitted Jovan Jackson, the coordinator of Answerdam Alternative Care, of all marijuana-related charges; the foreman told the press following the verdict that California’s laws are too vague to determine whether Jackson’s collective wasn’t in compliance.
Jackson’s trial lawyer, K. Lance Rogers of Turner Law Group, cautions that each case’s circumstance are different—not to mention each jury—and that Jackson’s verdict doesn’t indicate how the federal court will rule on Stacy’s motion. Plus, unlike in Jackson’s case, when the prosecution had to prove he committed the crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, the burden will be on the defense during the hearing to show that Stacy was within the law.
“The issues and the challenges that will ultimately come up with Mr. Stacy’s hearing are all of the same issues that came up in Jovan’s case,” Rogers says. “It’s not enough to say, ‘I knew about this information before I set up my collective.’ In my opinion, he needs to show some evidence that he knew the government’s public advisory.”
Stacy’s testimony may be enough, Rogers says, but his communication with the Secretary of State’s Corporations Division and the fact he hired a lawyer to advise him may prove the most compelling.
More than the entrapment defense, Rogers is interested in another argument Stacy’s attorney makes: The federal government violated the 10th Amendment protection of states’ rights by enlisting San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies to enforce a federal law that contradicts state law.
“The federal government can’t commandeer state law enforcement to implement federal policies, and the keyword is ‘commandeering,’” Rogers says. “This is a fundamental principle of federalism and American jurisprudence. That’s a fascinating argument that has not been decided to my knowledge.”
Until it is decided, Stacy is keeping his nose (and his pipe) clean. He believes he has the right to continue using marijuana for medical purposes but has switched to Marinol, a synthetic THC pill, until the court gives him explicit permission at his next bail hearing.
“I did not, I do not and I will not break the law,” Stacy says.
Write to davem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com .
Read More at San Diego City Beat!
http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/obama_entrapped_me/8819/
By Dave Maass, San Diego CityBeat
More than most citizens, James Dean Stacy feels betrayed by the candidate for whom he voted for president.
Up and down the campaign trail, from Los Angeles to Medford, Ore., then-Sen. Barack Obama and his spokespeople pledged that he would end the aggressive raids by the U.S. Department of Justice of medical-marijuana dispensaries operating legally under state law. The candidate said it was a waste of resources that would be better dedicated to fighting terrorism and prosecuting violent crime. Obama said he didn’t see any meaningful difference between marijuana and prescriptions such as morphine and that providers should be protected, excepting those who blatantly use medical-cannabis laws as a shield for otherwise dubious drug trafficking.
When he assumed office, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder echoed the sentiments during several meet-the-new-DOJ appearances in California and New Mexico—“You will be surprised to know that the Justice Department will be acting in a manner consistent with what [the president] said during the campaign”—and, in October, Holder formalized the policy in a set of guidelines distributed to U.S. Attorney offices.
By then, Stacy had been running a medical-marijuana collective, Movement in Action, for five months in the space adjacent to his martial-arts dojo in Vista.
“I’m the most follow-the-rules kind of guy around, so I thought I was the perfect guy to do it,” Stacy tells CityBeat. “When the collective was open, I’d have days where we’d turn away as many as 10 people who didn’t have the proper paperwork.”
In a Dec. 10 court motion, Stacy says he did the due diligence: He researched the prosecutorial policies articulated by Holder, hired a lawyer to walk him through the process and corresponded with the California Secretary of State’s (SOS) office on how to file for “public benefit” status, the technical term for a California nonprofit. The SOS even provided him with a copy of the state Attorney General’s guidelines for running a collective. Unlike many of the other collectives where the San Diego Regional Narcotics Task Force ran stings, Stacy opted for a low-profile model because, he says, “I didn’t want people who didn’t need to know to have it in their face.”
Stacy told undercover officers that they could provide labor to the collective in exchange for medicine and invited them to a “farmers market,” where patients could buy directly from growers—practices he felt were in keeping with the spirit of the California AG’s guidelines. Nevertheless, on Sept. 9, he was arrested after his collective and 13 others were raided.
Now, Stacy is one of only two collective operators who have been charged in federal court as a result of the raids. He faces one count of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, one count of manufacturing marijuana and one count of possession of a firearm while committing the other crimes—a handgun was found in the locker where he kept the collective’s supply.
The other federal defendant, Joseph Nunes of Green Kross Collective, pleaded guilty to his charges earlier this month. Stacy, however, says he’s not giving in to the prosecution.
“I quote my wife: ‘I’m not going to let you plead guilty to something you didn’t do,’” says Stacy, who uses marijuana to treat pain from martial-arts injuries and to relieve the nausea he’s suffered since losing his gall bladder. “They threatened life-imprisonment at both of my bail hearings.... This is nothing but a terrorist attack against the medical-marijuana community.”
Instead, Stacy is mounting a novel defense: The statements by Obama and Holder constitute entrapment by estoppel, defined as when an official tells someone that something is legal, then busts them for it. Put plainly, Stacy would not have formed the collective if the government hadn’t assured legal collectives that they wouldn’t be prosecuted.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office does not comment on pending cases, and Ben LaBolt, a White House spokesman whose pro-medical-marijuana statements were directly cited in the court filing, did not respond to inquiries.
The entrapment defense draws from a “fundamental notion of fairness: The individual must have fair warning of what conduct the government intends to punish,” Stacy’s attorney, Kasha Castillo of Federal Defenders of San Diego, writes in the recent motion. Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz has agreed to hear the motion—which includes a request that the case be dismissed or, alternately, Stacy be allowed to present the entrapment defense in court—on Feb. 3.
When CityBeat first posted a summary of the motion on its blog, Lastblogonearth.com, and linked it from the Huffington Post, some commentators wrote it off as a gratuitous and foolish attempt to claim that a candidate’s campaign promises are as good as laws passed by Congress. However, defense attorneys say it isn’t just a novel approach; rather, it’s a potential groundbreaking solution to a longstanding paradox in federal medical-marijuana cases.
San Diego County Deputy Public Defender Juliana Humphrey explains that, historically, medical-marijuana patients and caregivers have been barred from saying they were acting in good-faith under California law because it has not been considered a legitimate defense under federal law.
“Most of the time, the common thought is that trial defendants are getting some kind of advantage because everything is sterilized for the defendant’s benefit,” says Humphrey, who chaired the city of San Diego’s Medical Cannabis Task Force in 2002. “But in this case, it completely keeps from the jury the truth of the motivation of the person that possesses or provides the marijuana for the benefit of the government.”
Last month, a San Diego jury in state Superior Court acquitted Jovan Jackson, the coordinator of Answerdam Alternative Care, of all marijuana-related charges; the foreman told the press following the verdict that California’s laws are too vague to determine whether Jackson’s collective wasn’t in compliance.
Jackson’s trial lawyer, K. Lance Rogers of Turner Law Group, cautions that each case’s circumstance are different—not to mention each jury—and that Jackson’s verdict doesn’t indicate how the federal court will rule on Stacy’s motion. Plus, unlike in Jackson’s case, when the prosecution had to prove he committed the crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, the burden will be on the defense during the hearing to show that Stacy was within the law.
“The issues and the challenges that will ultimately come up with Mr. Stacy’s hearing are all of the same issues that came up in Jovan’s case,” Rogers says. “It’s not enough to say, ‘I knew about this information before I set up my collective.’ In my opinion, he needs to show some evidence that he knew the government’s public advisory.”
Stacy’s testimony may be enough, Rogers says, but his communication with the Secretary of State’s Corporations Division and the fact he hired a lawyer to advise him may prove the most compelling.
More than the entrapment defense, Rogers is interested in another argument Stacy’s attorney makes: The federal government violated the 10th Amendment protection of states’ rights by enlisting San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies to enforce a federal law that contradicts state law.
“The federal government can’t commandeer state law enforcement to implement federal policies, and the keyword is ‘commandeering,’” Rogers says. “This is a fundamental principle of federalism and American jurisprudence. That’s a fascinating argument that has not been decided to my knowledge.”
Until it is decided, Stacy is keeping his nose (and his pipe) clean. He believes he has the right to continue using marijuana for medical purposes but has switched to Marinol, a synthetic THC pill, until the court gives him explicit permission at his next bail hearing.
“I did not, I do not and I will not break the law,” Stacy says.
Write to davem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com .
Read More at San Diego City Beat!
http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/obama_entrapped_me/8819/
Friday, December 18, 2009
James Stacy Federal Court - 5th Floor Courtroom 15
A hearing in James Stacy’s federal case is scheduled for today at 1:30 pm in the Federal Courthouse at 940 Front Street San Diego, CA 92101-8900 - 5th Floor Courtroom 15
Please come out and support James in court. He is a victim of Dumanis’ efforts to overturn state law and the will of the voters with regards to proposition 215. James was a founding member of a legal collective in San Diego which was raided on September 9th and now is facing Federal charges for legally cultivating and distributing medication in his closed circuit collective.
For more information on James Stacy’s federal case visit www.movementinaction.org
Eugene Davidovich
San Diego Americans for Safe Access
www.safeaccesssd.org
Please come out and support James in court. He is a victim of Dumanis’ efforts to overturn state law and the will of the voters with regards to proposition 215. James was a founding member of a legal collective in San Diego which was raided on September 9th and now is facing Federal charges for legally cultivating and distributing medication in his closed circuit collective.
For more information on James Stacy’s federal case visit www.movementinaction.org
Eugene Davidovich
San Diego Americans for Safe Access
www.safeaccesssd.org
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
James Stacy - Federal MMJ Trial
Support James Stacy as he stands up against the charges in Federal Court!
James was raided on 9/9/9 as part of Bonnie Dumanis' effort to overturn the will of the people.
Please visit his website and donate to his legal defense: http://movementinaction.org/donte/
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