MENDOCINO D.A.'S POT FEE RAISES CASH, EYEBROWS

Policy Reducing Defendants' Charges If They Make Payment Both Lauded,
Called Extortion

Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster has been busy since
taking office in January, dealing with campaign promises and
implementing new practices that are raising funds and eyebrows.

One of his most novel and controversial moves has been to allow
people charged with felony marijuana cultivation to plead guilty to
misdemeanor possession if they agree to pay a $50-per-plant
eradication fee to law enforcement agencies. The defendants also are
placed on probation for two years and sentenced to 100 to 200 hours
of community service, depending on the number of plants they were growing.

The program is being hailed as progress by some and reviled as an
extortion by others.

"There are a lot of mixed feelings," said Jim Hill, a member of the
Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board. He believes the new
program is a good compromise.

So far, at least 31 people - all involved in cases that have lagged
from years prior - have taken the deal and paid the Mendocino County
Sheriff's Office more than $117,000.

If those defendants later want to grow medical marijuana, they will
be required to buy medical marijuana zip ties from the Sheriff's
Office at $50 per plant. The ties - optional for everyone else -
prove the plants are certified for medical use.

It's a boon to the cash-strapped Sheriff's Office, which increasingly
is relying on drug-related funds to balance its budget. It's hoping
to raise more than $500,000 next year through a medical marijuana
permitting program. This year it used about $450,000 in drug-related
asset forfeiture funds to pay for overtime.

Those eligible for Eyster's new plea deals generally are first-time
offenders and people who may have been planning to become legal by
obtaining medical marijuana credentials, Eyster said. Profiteers and
trespass growers are not eligible, he said.

The agreements not only generate income for law enforcement, they
save the District Attorney's Office time and money, he said. They
also save the defendants legal fees, Eyster said.

"It's a win-win program," he said.

Marijuana advocates and their defenders largely welcome the program
as progress, but it also has raised concerns.

"I think it's commendable" that the charges are being reduced to
misdemeanors, said Ukiah marijuana defense attorney Bob Boyd. But
some of his clients see it as a payoff.

"People are saying 'I have to pay my extortion fee,' " he said.
Another concern is that only people with enough money to pay can
benefit, which seems contrary to the concept of equal justice, he said.

"It's a very odd and slippery slope," Boyd said.

The program is based on a little-known law that allows law
enforcement agencies to recover the costs of marijuana eradication.
But it may soon become more commonly used as other cash-strapped
agencies search for new revenue sources.

"Other counties are asking me 'how did you get this going?' " Eyster said.

Eyster's approach is consistent with his promise to streamline
marijuana prosecutions and halt what he said was the overcharging of
pot crimes. He's also spearheading state legislation that would allow
district attorneys to decide whether cultivation cases should be
charged as misdemeanors or felonies. Currently, cultivation is a felony.