OWOSSO MAN DIDN'T ENCLOSE MARIJUANA PLANTS CORRECTLY, JUDGES SAY

A 6-foot-tall chain-link-fence dog kennel secured by padlock is not an "enclosed, locked facility" under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, a divided Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled, reinstating felony drug manufacture charges against a medical marijuana patient in Shiawassee County.

The court, in a 2-1 majority opinion released Friday, said Larry S. King was not entitled to protection under the act approved by voters in 2008 because the backyard structure where he was growing marijuana was not anchored to the ground or enclosed from above as required by the law. They also ruled that marijuana plants found in a closet in King's Owosso home were not secured.

King was targeted in May 2009 after an anonymous tip to State Police about the plants growing in the kennel.

The opinion was signed by Judges Henry Saad and David Sawyer.

Judge Thomas Fitzgerald, in a dissenting opinion, said King's backyard enclosure and home met the act's requirements and said he would have affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss the charges.

The prosecution of King is one of several cases involving prosecution of defendants who claimed to have the legal right to grow or possess marijuana under the MMA that have reached the appeals court. Some of the issues raised are expected to be decided over the next few years by the Michigan Supreme Court.