Anderson

Defendant Jerry Trent Anderson was convicted of one count of cultivating marijuana. His contentions in this appeal are (1) the court failed to instruct the jury correctly on Anderson’s defense under the medical marijuana laws, and (2) evidence of the marijuana should have been excluded, and the information dismissed, because the police did not adhere to statutory evidence-preservation requirements when they destroyed all but some samples of the plants they seized from Anderson’s property.

We agree with the first argument and will reverse. The jury instructions failed to explain clearly the defense potentially available to Anderson under Health and Safety Code section 11362.775, which legalizes the operation of cooperatives and collectives for cultivation of marijuana by groups of patients. Specifically, the instructions did not make it clear that a lawful cooperative or collective can consist of some patient members who grow marijuana and other patient members who compensate the growers with money in exchange for marijuana. In light of the evidence, the arguments made to the jury by counsel, and the fact that there was a splintered verdict (consisting of a conviction on…