WITH JURORS DEADLOCKED 11-1, MISTRIAL DECLARED IN POT CASE

Kubby Found Guilty Of Two Felony Charges

A mistrial was declared Thursday in the trial of Steve and Michele
Kubby, with a jury that leaned 11-1 toward acquittal on
possession-of-marijuana-for-sales charges deciding to give up efforts
to convince a lone, female juror to come over to their side.

Jurors were sequestered for 21 1/2 hours over five days after hearing
testimony that spanned four months. In the end, the jury could only
decide to convict Steve Kubby on comparably minor felony drug
possession charges involving a magic mushroom stem and peyote buttons.

Steve Kubby faces a maximum exposure of three years, eight months in
prison for the drug possession charges and a minimum of probation,
Placer County District Attorney Brad Fenocchio said. Prosecutors will
now have to consider both a sentencing recommendation and whether to
retry the other charges, he said.

"We respect the jury's decision - and indecision as well," Fenocchio
said.

The crux of the trial was the issue of possession of marijuana for
sale stemming from a January 1999 raid on the Kubbys' Olympic Valley
home. Jurors were unanimous in their belief, when polled by the court,
that they would be unable to come back with a verdict after further
deliberations.

A total of 265 pot plants were confiscated from the Kubbys' indoor
grow - marijuana the Placer County District Attorney's Office
contended had a potential yield far above the couple's medicinal needs.

Eleven jurors were willing to acquit the Kubbys on the most serious
charges - counts of possession for sale, cultivating and conspiracy
that could have resulted in up to 10 years in prison. Juror Floyd
Marston said the hold-out member of the panel was set from the start
of deliberations last Friday against acquittal. Several attempts were
made to sway her, he said.

"We just decided that no is no," Marston said. "She had very definite
thoughts and there was no possible way she could be convinced."

Steve Kubby, a medical marijuana advocate and Libertarian Party
gubernatorial candidate in 1998, showed a smile after what defense
attorneys described as a victory in the face of his possible
conviction on the most serious charges.

Both Steve Kubby and his attorney, J. Tony Serra, said the jury's 11-1
shift toward acquittal gave credence to City of Oakland guidelines for
growing marijuana established shortly after passage of Proposition 215
in 1996. The Oakland guidelines allow 144 plants per person for
medicinal use.

"The important thing is the jury upheld the Oakland guidelines," Kubby
said