POT GROWER'S CASE COULD BREAK NEW GROUND

SAN ANDREAS -- An attorney for a Wallace man who, along with his wife, is
charged with cultivating marijuana said Monday their case is the most
significant one yet in the realm of medical-marijuana law.

K. Randolph Moore, a Morgan Hill attorney representing Ricky Dewayne
Garner, 42, said his client and his wife, Sue Melinda Garner, 40, were
upfront in their efforts to grow marijuana for people who had a legal right
to it -- including themselves -- and that officials had no business
arresting them.

The Garners are charged with cultivating marijuana, a felony, and
contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor.

According to the complaint filed against the Garners in Calaveras County
Superior Court earlier this month, they permitted and encouraged their
15-year-old son to use a controlled substance.

The Garners both pleaded not guilty during their initial arraignments last
week. Monday, they were ordered to return to court at 9 a.m. Dec. 20 for a
preliminary hearing. The hearing will determine if the Garners must stand
trial on the charges.

The Garners are ministers of the Northern Lights Church, a Unitarian
ministry that believes cannabis is a "physical and spiritual healing
sacrament from times of antiquity," according to the church's Web site.

On Aug. 2, the Sheriff's Department served a search warrant at the Garners'
property on Southworth Road and destroyed 287 live marijuana plants.

More than two months passed before District Attorney Peter Smith's office
filed criminal complaints against the Garners, who are free on their own
recognizance.

Smith would not comment on the case Monday.

Neither Rick nor Sue Garner would answer questions Monday following their
hearing before Judge Douglas Mewhinney. But Moore said the Garners were
upfront about growing marijuana for members of their church who have a
legal right to use it under Proposition 215.

The Compassionate Use Initiative, passed by voters in 1996, legalized the
use of marijuana to treat certain illnesses.

Moore said county law enforcement agents knew the Garners were growing
marijuana for seriously ill patients.

"That's why we're sickened and disappointed that, in the face of that, law
enforcement chose to go out and destroy this medicine that's sanctioned by
the state, and seriously ill people were deprived of this," he said.

Moore said law enforcement had no proof the Garners were involved in
illicit activity before they raided the property, and they found nothing
once they arrived to justify their actions.

"There was no information dealing with sales because there wasn't any,"
Moore said. "There's no information in profiteering off of this because
there was none and there was no intention of doing so.

"This case is the most significant case in medical-marijuana history thus
far. If they can prosecute and convict my client and his wife of these
charges, then no one is safe, and then Proposition 215 means absolutely
nothing."

Moore said he's confident if the case goes to trial "no jury would convict
them of these charges."

Moore said what makes the Garners' case different is that they were
"actively participating" with local authorities to help develop guidelines
for Proposition 215.

A member of the Northern Lights Church, David Jack, who also is a minister
for the church, served on a task force the Board of Supervisors appointed
to help develop guidelines for medical-marijuana use.

The board approved those guidelines Monday.

To reach Lode Bureau Chief Francis P. Garland, phone 736-9554 or e-mail
garnel@goldrush.com