People v. Mikhi CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Raymond Mikhi appeals from the judgment of convictions for cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and theft of utility services over $950. Mikhi argues that the trial court committed reversible error by instructing the jury that he had the burden to raise a reasonable doubt regarding his Compassionate Use Act (CUA) defense to the two marijuana charges. Mikhi also contends that the trial court erred by failing to stay under Penal Code section 6541 either his sentence on the conviction for cultivation of marijuana or his sentence on the conviction for possession of marijuana for sale or both. We conclude that, although any error in the court’s jury instructions was harmless, the trial court should have stayed one of the sentences on the marijuana-related convictions.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 4, 2013 Los Angeles Police Department officers searched Mikhi’s home pursuant to a warrant. The officers found that “[t]he whole base of the interior of the house, the middle portion of this house, was a marijuana grow operation.” The officers found “numerous tray tables” with marijuana plants growing approximately two to four…