County of Butte v. Superior Court

Real party in interest David Williams is a qualified medical marijuana patient who uses marijuana upon the recommendation of his physician. Williams belonged to a seven-member collective of medical marijuana patients who agreed to contribute comparable amounts of money, property, and labor to the collective cultivation of marijuana; each then would receive an approximately equal share of the marijuana produced. The marijuana was grown at Williams’s home.

In September of 2005 a Butte County Sheriff’s deputy came to Williams’s home without a warrant. Williams produced copies of medical marijuana recommendations for himself and the other members of the collective. The *732 deputy ordered Williams, under threat of arrest and prosecution, to destroy all but 12 of the 41 medical marijuana plants. Williams complied.

Williams brought suit, alleging various constitutional violations by defendants Butte County, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, and the deputy involved (collectively, County). County demurred to all causes of action based on a failure to state a cause of action. The trial court overruled the demurrer, rejecting County’s argument that Williams could assert his…

I would grant the writ. The fourth amended complaint fails to state a cause of action, and therefore, to avoid a needless trial, the demurrer should have been sustained.

I adhere to the views expressed in People v. Bianco (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 748 [ 113 Cal.Rptr.2d 392 ], and in my concurrence in People v. Tilehkooh (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 1433, 1447-1448 [ 7 Cal.Rptr.3d 226 ] (Tilehkooh), that the United States Congress should reconsider its refusal to amend the federal drug laws to make reasonable accommodation for the 13 states that have enacted some form of compassionate use exception to their penal codes.

The People of California, in exercising their right of initiative, passed the Compassionate Use Act (the CUA) allowing the use of marijuana under physician supervision when it is medically effective, but Congress has not chosen to enact such a law and the United States Supreme Court has held that even such narrow usage obstructs federal law. (Gonzales v. Raich (2005) 545 U.S. 1 [ 162 L.Ed.2d 1 , 125 S.Ct. 2195 ] (Raich).)

*741 As I stated in my concurrence in Tilehkooh , and as is pointed out in City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 355 [ 68…

Joseph D. Elford for Real Party in Interest.

Real party in interest David Williams is a qualified medical marijuana patient who uses marijuana upon the recommendation of his physician. Williams belonged to a seven-member collective of medical marijuana patients who agreed to contribute comparable amounts of money, property, and labor to the collective cultivation of marijuana; each then would receive an approximately equal share of the marijuana produced. The marijuana was grown at Williams's home.

In September of 2005 a Butte County Sheriff's deputy came to Williams's home without a warrant. Williams produced copies of medical marijuana recommendations for himself and the other members of the collective. The deputy ordered Williams, under threat of arrest and prosecution, to destroy all but 12 of the 41 medical marijuana plants. Williams complied.

Williams brought suit, alleging various constitutional violations by defendants Butte County, the Butte County Sheriff's Office, and the deputy involved (collectively, County). County demurred to all causes of action based on a failure to state a cause of action. The trial court overruled the demurrer, rejecting County's…