JUDGE TOSSES CASE AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA CO-OP

A Superior Court judge has thrown out a criminal case against an
Oildale medical marijuana cooperative that was shut down in 2009,
saying the search warrant that led to the closure was based on
incomplete information because it omitted a tape recording that seemed
to indicate the cooperative was complying with the law.

Judge Michael Dellostritto Friday called the affidavit in support of
the search warrant "false and misleading," and said he never would
have issued the warrant had he heard the recording.

Defense attorney H.A. Sala said Tuesday the ruling validated the
California Compassionate Co-op and was not only a victory for his
client, but "more importantly, a victory for the rule of law and due
process of law."

Sheriffs deputies identified themselves as law enforcement officers
and interviewed the owner of the cooperative and several of her
employees in May 2009, about a month before the warrant was issued.
The interview was secretly recorded.

They later put together a written summary of the exchange and
submitted that with the affidavit in support of a search warrant, but
they failed to attach a copy of the recording or to disclose that the
interview had been taped.

"That would not be in the normal realm of practice, to attach a tape
to an affidavit and submit it to a judge," said Francis Moore, chief
deputy in charge of the law enforcement bureau of the Kern County
Sheriff's Department. "They're always summaries. There are often tapes
and videos and things, but it would take judges days to wade through
all that."

Moore said the District Attorney's Office and the defense attorney
"still don't see eye to eye on whether it was a legitimate co-op, and
that's the crux of the argument, but the judge makes his decision
based on the evidence he's presented, and we respect the judge's decision."

Sala only learned of the existence of the tape during a cross
examination, at which point he asked the Sheriff's Department to produce it.

On the recording, the co-op's owner, Deborah Lynn Dahl, and her staff
are heard apparently showing sheriff's deputies articles of
incorporation, telling them that they did not profit from canibus
sales but only covered costs, and explaining that canibus was sold
exclusively to co-op members who had been recommended by a doctor with
a valid California medical license, Sala said.

The co-op had opened in April 2009 to sell marijuana only to co-op
members whose doctors had recommended marijuana use for medical treatment.

The judge ruled to quash the search warrant and to suppress all
evidence obtained as a result of the search it authorized.

Dahl faced one felony count of selling/furnishing marijuana and one
felony count of possessing marijuana for sale. Both charges are dismissed.

Criminal charges were filed in September 2009, and a civil suit was
filed the same year. The organization seeks the return of $14,000 and
more than four pounds of marijuana seized from the premises at 200 N.
Chester Ave.

The civil suit is still pending.

Dahl, through her attorney, declined to comment.