JUDGE ORDERS MARIJUANA RETURNED TO MAN

Man Was Found Not Guilty in Medical Marijuana Case

Last month, Richard Daleman and his lawyer convinced a jury that he
was growing marijuana legally to treat his pain problems and not
breaking the law.

On Wednesday, the 61-year-old man had another victory when Tulare
County Superior Court Judge Darryl Ferguson ordered that all the
marijuana county sheriff's deputies had confiscated from him Dec. 16
be returned.

"They're giving me every gram of it back," said Daleman, who had been
arrested and jailed for weeks after deputies searched his home and
found processed and unprocessed marijuana he had grown in his backyard
garden, as well as dozens of new plants he had recently purchased.

At the time, Daleman had recommendations from two doctors to grow and
use marijuana to treat pain from arthritis and other conditions, and
he had registered as a grower and user of medicinal marijuana with the
Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency.

Despite this, he was arrested and charged anyway with two counts each
of possessing marijuana for sale and cultivating marijuana.

After a jury found him not guilty on March 27, Daleman was released
from jail, but prosecutors refused to return his marijuana and growing
equipment despite a court order by Ferguson.