Charlie Lynch Medical Marijuana Sentencing Postponed

Nick Gillespie | March 23, 2009

From the LA Times account:

A federal judge in Los Angeles this morning postponed the sentencing of a man who emerged as a key figure in the national debate over medical marijuana, saying he wanted additional information about a reported change in the Justice Department's policy regarding such prosecutions.

U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu asked prosecutors for a written response from the Justice Department about its position on medical marijuana prosecutions in light of recent comments from Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.

Holder said last week that the Justice Department under President Obama had no plans to prosecute dispensary owners who operated within their state's law.

Wu said he did not believe that any change in policy would affect the conviction of Charles Lynch, 47. But the judge said he wanted to consider any new information about the policy before imposing sentence.

More here.

Reason has been following the Charlie Lynch case. Read all about it here.

And watch this video, which explores the insanity behind his prosecution/persecution:

Comments

|3.23.09 @ 4:34PM|#

If this judge has any hint of decency, he'll sentence Lynch to time served.

-jcr

|3.23.09 @ 4:35PM|#

Let me also add, that unless Obama pardons Charlie Lynch, he is a fucking hypocrite.

-jcr

Warty |3.23.09 @ 4:36PM|#

An activist judge would be a good thing to have about now.

BakedPenguin|3.23.09 @ 4:39PM|#

Holder's response will be interesting. I suspect it will be as non-committal as possible in 100 words or less.

|3.23.09 @ 4:39PM|#

[U.S. District Court Judge George H.] Wu said he did not believe that any change in policy would affect the conviction of Charles Lynch, 47.

Thank you, Judge, for deciding on the merits of the case before hearing it!

Chris Matthews|3.23.09 @ 4:45PM|#

"Thank you, Judge, for deciding on the merits of the case before hearing it!"

He got the merits via TWITTER.

Pete Guither|3.23.09 @ 5:27PM|#

"Thank you, Judge, for deciding on the merits of the case before hearing it!"

Um, he did hear it.

And the jury found Lynch guilty.

So no, he's right -- I don't see how a change in policy alone could overturn a guilty verdict. But it might give the judge enough reason to look at options in sentencing (including time served).

Paul|3.23.09 @ 5:29PM|#

Wu said he did not believe that any change in policy would affect the conviction of Charles Lynch, 47. But the judge said he wanted to consider any new information about the policy before imposing sentence.

This could be interpreted many ways. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with any of them.

|3.23.09 @ 5:40PM|#

And the jury found Lynch guilty.

The jury never got to hear a defense. The trial was about as fair as anything Stalin would have staged.

-jcr

adrian|3.23.09 @ 5:55PM|#

does the word justice not mean anything in "the justice system"?

Mad Max|3.23.09 @ 5:57PM|#

Excellent idea - put the administration on the spot - have them put the policy in writing.

Pete Guither|3.23.09 @ 8:29PM|#

The jury never got to hear a defense. The trial was about as fair as anything Stalin would have staged.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

Of course it wasn't fair, but I was responding to FTG's statement, which made no sense, given that a trial (regardless of how ridiculously unfair) has already taken place.

This is the fault of the Supreme Court ruling that Congress can simply decree that something has no medical value (regardless of fact) and is is so, thereby preventing the mention of medical use in federal trials. It's not really the trial judge's fault.

jtuf|3.23.09 @ 8:52PM|#

Well, this is a bit of good news. Now to work on legalizing medical marijuana on the federal level so hemp dispensories don't have to rely on the good graces of who ever runs the DEA.

|3.23.09 @ 10:25PM|#

It's not really the trial judge's fault.

Sorry, I'm not buying the Nuremburg defense here. If that judge was doing his job, he would have let Lynch defend himself.
-jcr

|3.23.09 @ 11:16PM|#

Let Him go! - That would be the next awesome step in legalizing Mary-Jane.

Obama, Like he has anytime for this bullshit.
Don't expect any comments from him, it's lame to think that he is even aware of this case.

Anna|3.24.09 @ 6:53AM|#

He should be found innocent as it's a fact that marijuana used for medical purposes does have a medical value.

|3.25.09 @ 2:26PM|#

As a nation we have the choice between either spending $20,000 a year to lock up a marijuana user or collecting sales tax on the individual's purchase of this widely used, relatively safe product. To collect taxes from the grow-your-own community, we could consider a $100 per year permit for a dozen plants.
It's time to put the criminal drug dealers out of business and let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.