MEDICAL POT SMOKER LOSES LATEST LEGAL ROUND AGAINST MERCED COUNTY

Merced County prevailed Monday in a lawsuit launched after the area's most
vocal medical marijuana advocate was handcuffed and jailed, but not
charged with any crime.

A federal judge in Fresno dismissed Grant Wilson's lawsuit that alleged
false arrest by officers, a search-and-seizure civil rights violation and
that he was held in jail longer than necessary.

The judge further ruled that Wilson couldn't file the case again.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill ruled that Wilson named the county
as a defendant too late. The arrest happened in 2005. The county wasn't
added to the lawsuit until December 2008.

"We are certainly pleased that the statute of limitations was upheld,"
head county attorney James Fincher said.

The federal win is among two other medical marijuana cases the county has
recently won.

While the Board of Supervisors has been publicly scolded by Wilson for
outlawing marijuana dispensaries, a judge said the supervisors were acting
legally.

Wilson and Sam Matthews challenged in Superior Court the Board of
Supervisor's 2007 decision to ban pot dispensaries in the county, alleging
that it went against Proposition 215, which allowed marijuana to be used
as medicine in California.

The two filed nearly identical cases in 2008. A judge agreed with the
county that there was no case for argument.

Wilson then asked the court to force the county to allow dispensaries.
That was denied in December. The time has passed to appeal the decision to
a higher court.

Counties are required to issue medical marijuana identification cards, but
nothing in the law says that counties must allow dispensaries.

Fincher noted that medical marijuana users are allowed to grow their own
plants.

Wilson said he cried after hearing about the ruling and complained it was
based on a technicality, not the merits of his case. He's been pursuing
the case, first against the Merced Police Department and later against the
county, for more than two years.

"It's like they want to run me down to the ground," 52-year-old Wilson
said, his voice growing heavy. "It's like a bad nightmare I can't get out
of."

Officers arrested Wilson Sept. 22, 2005, after they went to his Merced
home. They had received a report that Wilson and his common-law wife were
arguing.

She told officers that Wilson grew pot in his bedroom. He showed them his
medical marijuana card, which was from San Francisco County's Public
Health Department and said he was dealing with hepatitis C.

The officers confiscated the plants and arrested Wilson for growing and
possessing marijuana. He was taken to jail. He alleges that he spent five
days in jail and never appeared in court. No criminal charges were filed
by the Merced County District Attorney's Office.

Ten months later, Wilson, representing himself, filed a lawsuit. The judge
later dismissed the case against the city, finding that the officers did
nothing wrong.

In turn, Wilson filed suit against the county because it ran the jail.

The judge ruled Wilson failed to prove there was a good reason he didn't
name the county from the beginning, O'Neill wrote in his decision.

Before filing a lawsuit against the government, a person must first submit
a claim, which Wilson never did.

Wilson argued that he thought county and city government were the same.
"Mr. Wilson cites no authority for his novel notion," the judge wrote.
"Such failure (to file a claim) is fatal to his state law claims against
Merced County."