SENTENCING DELAYED IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE

A Federal Judge Says He's Inclined to Impose Less Than the Required
Five Years on Charles Lynch, Who Ran a Morro Bay Dispensary. Lawyers
Are Given Time to File Briefs Before a June Hearing.

The sentencing of a man who has become a key figure in the national
debate over medical marijuana was postponed Thursday, with a federal
judge saying he was inclined to impose a more lenient sentence than
the five years required by federal sentencing guidelines, but
questioning whether he had the authority to do so.

"If I could find a way out, I would," U.S. District Judge George H.
Wu said. He gave lawyers in the case until June 2 to file briefs
regarding the impending sentence of Charles Lynch.

Lynch, 47, ran a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay on the
Central Coast in 2006 and 2007. Despite having the blessing of the
city's mayor and other public officials, he was charged with
violating federal drug laws for distributing marijuana and was
convicted by a federal court jury in Los Angeles last year.

At the hearing Thursday, Wu heard from several character witnesses,
including one of Lynch's patients and the young man's father.

"I stand before you today because I believe a man is being punished
for reasons that don't make much sense," said Owen Beck, whose
parents took him to Lynch's Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers
when he was battling bone cancer at age 17. "I believe a great
injustice is being done."

Beck's father, Steven, told Wu that the chemotherapy his son was
undergoing was having devastating side effects.

"He could not eat. He could not sleep. His personality became dark
and angry," the elder Beck said. He told the judge they decided to
try medical marijuana on the advice of their son's Stanford
University oncologist. He said Lynch usually gave them marijuana for
free or at deeply discounted rates.

"I never felt as though Charlie was there for the money," Beck said.

Such testimony was not allowed at Lynch's trial because the Supreme
Court has ruled that a claim of medical necessity is not a valid defense.

Janice Peters, the mayor of Morro Bay, described Lynch as a "polite,
compassionate" man who did everything the city asked of him with
respect to his business.

Rob Schultz, the town's city attorney said he received only one
complaint about Lynch the whole time he was in business "and that had
to do with the quality of the medical marijuana."

The comment drew loud laughter from Lynch's supporters, who packed
the courtroom, many of them wearing green ribbons with the word
"compassion" printed on them.

Cultivating, using and selling doctor-recommended medical marijuana
is allowed under some circumstances in California and a dozen other
states, but federal law bans the drug altogether.

Though Lynch was not charged with violating state law, prosecutors
contend that he broke the law because he was not truly a "primary
caregiver" entitled to dispense marijuana to patients and that he
profited from the operation of his business.

Much of the discussion Thursday dealt with whether Wu was required to
sentence Lynch to a mandatory minimum of five years or whether the
defendant was entitled to a lesser sentence under a so-called safety valve.

The next hearing in the case, which the judge said would be the last,
is scheduled for June 11.