POT SHOP OWNER SAYS HE THOUGHT FEDS WERE OK WITH STORE

Vista Man Faces July Federal Trial for Selling Medical Marijuana

A Vista man facing federal drug charges for running a medical
marijuana storefront has asked a judge to let him argue to the jury
that, essentially, President Barack Obama and his administration said
it was OK to do so.

U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz, the federal judge overseeing
the proceedings against the man, James Stacy, will hear from
attorneys June 9 before he decides whether it would be OK for the
jury to hear the Obama-said-I-could argument.

Stacy's attorney, Kasha Castillo, said the ruling will be "the
biggest decision of this case."

Castillo said her client's argument is more than legal strategy ----
it is the truth of what Stacy believed when he opened up the Vista
pot shop in June 2009.

"There is no question," she said, that Stacy thought he was following
the rules.

Stacy's medical marijuana store was one of 14 San Diego County shops
raided by local and federal authorities on Sept. 9, 2009. A search of
Stacy's shop turned up eight dozen marijuana plants and a semiautomatic gun.

Federal prosecutors filed drug charges against only two of the pot
shop owners, including Stacy, following the raids.

Nearly three months ago, Judge Moskowitz shot down a request from
Castillo to dismiss the charges because, as Stacy and Castillo
argued, it ran counter to U.S. policy to refrain from federally
prosecuting medical marijuana operations that were following state laws.

Stacy says he took public statements by officials, including Obama
and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, as a greenlight to open up
shop, so long as he followed California law.

Moskowitz, in a written ruling on March 2, found that "a reasonable
person would not rely on these statements as assurance" against
federal prosecution. Holder's statements in particular, the judge
found, were "vague" and "loose."

"Moreover ... nobody with authority at any time personally told the
defendant that his actions were permissible under federal law,"
Moskowitz wrote.

Given Moskowitz's decision on March 2, Stacy may have a hard time
convincing the judge to let him tell the jury he thought federal
officials were OK with operations like his.

But in refusing to dismiss the charges against Stacy, Moskowitz also
said he would be willing to consider letting the jury hear about
Stacy's defense. His trial starts July 12.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Schopler, who is prosecuting the case,
is fighting Stacy's efforts to tell the jury he thought he had the
thumbs up to open up.

He argued in court papers that Stacy's purported reliance on
newspaper stories and public comments from administration officials
was simply unreasonable.

Stacy faces three federal counts related to the shop: conspiracy to
grow and sell marijuana, growing marijuana and possessing a
semi-automatic handgun in furtherance of his pot operation.

Marijuana As Medicine Approved

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which approved
use of the drug for medicinal purposes. But gray areas remain
regarding what is legal and what is not.

Medical marijuana has long been a contentious issue in San Diego
County, with local governments fighting state laws that approve and
regulate the use of the drug by sick people, as well as the
dispensaries that provide the herb.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law in most instances.

Stacy's Vista shop, Movement In Action, has been shuttered since
federal and state authorities raided it and 13 other medical pot
shops in San Diego County on Sept. 9. Authorities arrested more than
30 people in the raids ---- but only two people, including Stacy, were charged.

The day after the raids, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie
Dumanis said undercover agents had investigated cannabis clubs across
the county for five months, and found that many served not as
collectives, but as for-profit businesses, selling everything from
marijuana-laced cookies to dispensary T-shirts and caps.

County prosecutors criminally charged only one of the people arrested
that day. But federal prosecutors decided to charge Stacy and Joseph
Nunes, who ran a San Diego pot shop for medical patients. Nunes has
since pleaded guilty.

On the day of the raid, federal agents ---- relying on an
investigation conducted by local officials ---- sought and won a
warrant specifically to arrest Stacy.

In Stacy's case, authorities seized 96 marijuana plants,
marijuana-laced food and products, business records ---- and a loaded
semi-automatic pistol stored near the cash register.

The gun was found during the raid. It is unclear if federal
authorities ---- who had specifically gotten a warrant to arrest
Stacy before the raid ---- knew about the gun before searching his
shop and home.

'I Was Scrupulously Complying'

Stacy, through attorney Castillo, filed a declaration with the court
last week, laying out the hours of research he conducted over the
course of years before opening up his shop.

"Prior to opening the collective, I went to great lengths to ensure
that I was scrupulously complying with the letter of the law," Stacy wrote.

And that, he said, included reading up on California law, consulting
with an attorney, and reading dozens of news articles. He also
relied, he said, on statements made by then-candidate Barack Obama
and his campaign team, as well as statements by Obama and U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder, who said the federal government "had no
plans" to prosecute pot shops in compliance with state law.

Also playing a role, he said, was the refusal of the U.S. Supreme
Court to review cases that essentially had resulted in pro-medical
marijuana rulings.

Federal prosecutor Schopler declined comment Friday. But in court
papers, Schopler argued that not a single federal official
specifically told Stacy he could open up a pot shop without fear of
federal prosecution.

And, Schopler said, he was not aware of any federal medical marijuana
case in which a jury was allowed to hear a defense like Stacy's.

He said Stacy's research was focused on works by bloggers,
journalists and reading up on California law regarding medical
marijuana ---- and "none of these facts supports a claim that a
federal official affirmatively told defendant (Stacy) his conduct was legal."