US District Judge George Wu continued the sentencing of convicted medical cannabis collective operator Charles C. Lynch for a second time today. A growing cadre of supporters and media must come back to the Los Angeles Federal Courthouse on June 11 to learn the fate of the man who has become a cause celebre among medical cannabis advocates.

The courtroom was filled to capacity for today’s proceedings – including extra federal marshals on hand to monitor the unusually large crowd. Observers listened to more than two hours of testimony from key players in the case. Owen Beck, the eighteen-year-old amputee and legal patient to whom Lynch provided cannabis, asked the judge for leniency in a heartfelt statement. The judge also heard from Lynch’s brother and the Mayor and City Attorney for Morro Bay, where Lynch operated Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers with the city’s blessing until March of 2007.

ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford testified at the sentencing to explain how Lynch’s collective was legal under state law. His testimony was significant, because Judge Wu is still not persuaded that provisions of California law that allow a legal patients’ collective to maintain a storefront like the one in Morro Bay apply in Lynch’s case. The issue of whether or not Lynch believed his conduct was legal under state law will influence Judge Wu’s decision regarding the applicability of five-year mandatory minimum sentence. The judge promised to review the precedent cited by Joe Elford and the guidelines for medical cannabis he helped to craft with the California Attorney General last year.

At the sentencing hearing on March 23, Judge Wu asked prosecutors to provide a statement from Washington, DC, regarding the evolving federal policy on medical cannabis in light of comments made by the White House and US Attorney General Erik Holder earlier this year. Unfortunately, the statement disappointed advocates by indicating that Lynch’s prosecution and sentencing were consistent with current policy. The incongruity between Holder’s comments and the facts of Lynch’s case, especially regarding compliance with state law, indicate that there is much work to be done with the Obama Administration in realizing the promise of the  new “American policy.”

Judge Wu seemed committed to the two additional one-year mandatory minimum sentences Lynch faces, but asked both sides to brief him on what options he has besides jail if he decides to sentence Lynch to only one year and a day. This led many observers to speculate about a much lighter sentence. One of the most telling moments in the hearing was when Judge Wu conceded that “most people in this room” do not believe someone like Lynch belongs in jail.

The community support throughout the Lynch trial has been remarkable and has almost certainly influenced the sentencing. Supporters in the crowd sometimes reacted with gasps and unsatisfied murmurs to comments in the courtroom today. However, the most poignant message from the crowd was silent. When Federal Public Defender Reuven Cohen stepped up to the podium for the last time, the entire crowd stood in solidarity for the rest of the hearing. Let’s hope that simple gesture is not lost on Judge Wu when he considers Lynch’s fate.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Americans for Safe Access (ASA), California, Dispensaries, Federal, Legal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.