Trial of marijuana dispensary owner goes to jury

[flashl]

Lawyers for Charles Lynch of Morro Bay say a DEA agent gave the defendant misleading advice that amounted to entrapment.

By Scott Glover, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 5, 2008

A closely watched trial involving conflicting marijuana laws went to a federal court jury Monday, with jurors asked to determine if the owner of a Morro Bay pot dispensary is guilty of violating federal drug laws.

During a week-and-a-half-long trial in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, federal prosecutors sought to depict Charles Lynch, the owner of the dispensary, as a common drug dealer who sold pot to teenagers and carried a backpack stuffed with cash.

Lynch is charged with distributing marijuana, conspiring to distribute marijuana and providing marijuana to people under the age of 21.

He faces a minimum of five years in federal prison if convicted.

...

The cultivation, use and sale of doctor-prescribed marijuana is allowed in some instances under California law.

But the drug is banned altogether under federal law, which supersedes those of the states.

The U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited defendants from mounting a "medical necessity" defense, so Lynch's lawyers did not elicit testimony from patients or their parents.

For more information, see: Conflicting marijuana laws take stage in trial

[jody]

1. I hope the jury considers jury nullification if the judge gives anti-marijuana instructions. n/t