WITNESS ARRESTED AFTER HE TESTIFIES

OROVILLE - A defense attorney is outraged after Butte County deputies
arrested a witness after he testified on behalf of a man facing
marijuana charges.

Tuesday Jeffrey Lee Sanford was arrested in the Butte County Superior
Court hallway after he testified in the preliminary hearing of
Timothy Ole Skytte, 31. Skytte faces felony counts of cultivating
marijuana and possessing it for sale. He is also charged with felony
counts of illegally possessing a stun gun and money laundering.

Skytte was arrested on Aug. 18 after deputies discovered 54 pot
plants growing on his Yana Trail property in Concow. Officers also
found 369 plants on an Ishi Trail property Skytte rented to another
man identified as Lawrence Evans.

Sanford, president of the 30th Street Patient Collective in San
Diego, testified Skytte was a member of his 4,200-person collective
and was one of a dozen vendors who helped furnish the group with marijuana.

Skytte also leased part of the Yana Trail property to Sanford to grow
medicinal marijuana for collective members.

Before Sanford testified, Judge Steven Howell thoroughly questioned
him about his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and
repeatedly offered to provide a public defender.

Sanford said he was confident he could testify although he may put
himself at risk.

"I feel I have an obligation to my friend, Tim," Sanford said.

After Sanford was arrested, Skytte's attorney Jodea Foster said he
would challenge the Butte County District Attorney's Office action as
prosecutorial misconduct.

Foster said the arrest affects his client's defense because Sanford
could now plead the Fifth and no longer testify in Skytte's case.

"The people in this county should be outraged that that's the way our
District Attorney's Office handles issues," Foster said.

Deputy district attorney Jeff Greeson said Sanford's testimony
established a connection to Butte County and led to the probable
cause to arrest him. Foster disputed Greeson's claims, saying the
prosecution had interviewed Sanford before Tuesday. He said Sanford
did not provide any new information on the stand.

Sanford testified he founded the collective nearly three years ago,
but was now preparing to close it after receiving a letter from the
U.S. Justice Department. He said he met Skytte through a mutual
friend more than two years ago. Skytte became a member of the group
and began supplying pot.

According to sheriff's detective Douglas Patterson, Skytte said 30
plants on the Yana Trail property were under Sanford's control,
growing under six San Diego recommendations.

Patterson said the recommendations were all valid; however, four San
Diego collective members contacted by police were unaware and upset
their recommendations were being used for a grow. The detective also
said many members said they belonged to more than one collective.

Sanford said recommendations were selected at random for the grow. He
said he assumed collective members gave their consent when they
signed a membership agreement. While the agreement doesn't expressly
say a plant would be grown for the patient, he said the agreement
notes growing is a "real-life expense."

In addition to providing the recommendations, Sanford prepared
letters to Evans and Skytte that they could provide to police if
stopped while transporting pot to San Diego. Sanford said he could
refuse delivery if the marijuana didn't appear to be medicinal
quality. If it was acceptable, he would pay rates of $1,110 to $3,200
per pound.

Greeson said the collective was a dispensary providing a cover for
commercial sales. He said the case is an example of the abuse of the
collective laws.

"This is a mockery of Proposition 215," Greeson said.

Foster said the legality of Sanford's operation is disputed by many
jurisdictions. He argued there may not be enough evidence for the
money laundering charge against Skytte because there is some question
where the money came from.

Ultimately, the judge found there was sufficient evidence to hold
Skytte for trial on all counts.