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Judge dismisses medical marijuana indictment
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A district judge Monday tossed an indictment in a medical marijuana criminal case and called the state law governing distribution of the medicinal herb "mind boggling."
Judge Donald Mosley said a grand jury should have been allowed to see certain evidence before returning an indictment against Leonard Schwingdorf, including paperwork filled out by an undercover police officer showing that the marijuana was not for sale and that a donation to the co-op was not necessary to obtain the herb.
Authorities have cracked down and eliminated nearly all the local entities distributing marijuana to state- registered patients because, they held, the cooperatives are receiving compensation in forms of donations, violating Nevada law.
Schwingdorf and more than a dozen other defendants under indictment for distributing medical marijuana have argued the Nevada law is paradoxical because it allows patients registered with the state to possess the herb, but makes it illegal to obtain it.
Mosley said the law regulating medical marijuana is confusing at best.
"Well why don't they (the Legislature) make up their mind if they want to make it legal or not," the judge said. "I'm looking at it thinking I can't make any sense out of this law."
One Nevada law allows medical marijuana cardholders to possess, deliver or produce certain amounts of marijuana for pain relief. However, other state and federal laws make it illegal to buy or sell marijuana.
"Are people supposed to give it away?" Mosley said. "I mean it just makes no sense."
Schwingdorf and Nathan Hamilton were indicted on 11 counts, including sale of a controlled substance, when they gave marijuana to a Las Vegas police officer toting a medicinal marijuana registration card at Sin City Co-Op, 8221 W. Charleston Blvd.
Defense attorney Robert Draskovich argued for the indictment's dismissal because prosecutors did not present four key pieces of evidence, including the paperwork filled out by the officer, that might have swayed the grand jury not to indict Schwingdorf.
Another piece of evidence was a medical marijuana registration card the officer used to gain entry to the cooperative Sin City Co-Op. Draskovich argued in his motion that the officer "manufactured the sale of marijuana" by presenting the card and choosing to make a donation, though the paperwork he filled out said a donation was not necessary.
Mosley agreed with Draskovich that the grand jury should have seen the vials the marijuana came in, which said not for sale. The judge said prosecutors should have told the grand jury that Sin City Co-Op is registered as a nonprofit.
Prosecutor Chris Laurent said Schwingdorf had an opportunity to present evidence to the grand jury but did not.
Mosley dismissed the indictment without prejudice meaning prosecutors could re-indict Schwingdorf at a later date.
Federal prosecutors also could take the case because any marijuana, including medical marijuana, is illegal under federal law. Federal prosecutors are prosecuting seven defendants from another Las Vegas co-op, Completely Legal, in a similar case.
In hearing set for Friday in a third medical marijuana case, District Judge Doug Smith will hear arguments from prosecutors and Draskovich about the vagueness of Nevada's medical marijuana statutes.
Smith, like Mosley, also has said the law is difficult to understand.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
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Smith, like Mosley, also has said the law is difficult to understand.
No it's not. It's incomplete. Finish it up clearly please.
i feel for your State i live in Mich and this State is having the same problems as you guy's the Cop's are out to bust every one we have a great Law here but they wont leave us alone
Peace From The Front
bobandtorey
It is WONDERFUL to see that finally, there is a judge with Intelligence and Integrity! The Honorable Judge Donald Mosley is just that! He should be applauded for tossing out an indictment in a medical marijuana criminal case and calling the state law governing distribution of the medicinal herb "mind boggling." I totally agree with his ruling and his statement. I personally know some friends undergoing treatment (chemo & radiation) who cannot find relief from their nausea, with anything but cannabis. They have gone through ALL the mandatory requirements to attain this legally, ( mmj card), only to find that the dispensary had been shut down by Metro Police. Having been a cancer patient myself, I can not believe that in 2011, we are still battling the government over this MIRACLE PLANT! How do you refuse a sick or dying patient RELIEF from their pain and illness??? Not only this, but ALL the other beneficial uses of this plant have been taken away from the people, due to Greed and Profits from Big Pharma, Private Prisons, and the WHOLE FAILED DRUG WAR! GOD BLESS THIS MAN JUDGE DONALD MOSLEY, for doing something other people sitting in judgment, haven't got the GUTS, INTELLIGENCE, OR COURAGE TO DO! HE STEPPED UP AND DID THE RIGHT THING! THANK YOU YOUR HONOR!
Judge Doug Smith should Toss out the Completele Legal case as well, these guys are just try to help us get our Med's safey! Now that the are closed were do I get my meds, off the street were I am going to over pay for crap, or I may not even get my meds, the only thing I would get is ripped off!!! Please Judge Doug Smith help us out and toss this case out!!!
Did I miss something? What has the Legislature got to do with making something legal that the Voters already approved?
Thank goodness the People of NV already did the hard part. They voted to approve medical cannabis, and they did it twice to remove all confusion....
In the law that the voters approved, it states that safe access should be provided. Pretty cut and dried. No confusion.
The only confusion has been how to circumvent the will of the voters and find a way to undermine the laws we the People have enacted.
---Las Vegas Metro had a great opportunity to go on the air with two local attorneys who are defending some patients being charged with cannabis related crimes on the TV program "Face to Face With John Ralston", and tell Citizens about their concerns with the abuses of the law but they declined to be interviewed......
It must be very confusing indeed for an officer to have to arrest someone who is following the law as it is written and understood. Very confusing indeed.
Las Vegas hasn't been Las Vegas in decades... if you know what I mean.
Too many laws breed too many lawyers and court cases.
BIG Government. Great news for legal professionals.
Legalize *all* drugs. No Rx required.
No more monopoly manufacturing profits for BIG Pharma.
No more monopoly prescribing profits for medical licensees.
No more monopoly distribution profits for pharmacies.
Our grand jury system is a *joke*. The DA can get those imbeciles to indict a can of ham.
Schwingdorf should have went shopping for bud on the East Side of the Valley. Little Marijuana Mexico. Most every neighborhood has it's own Pot store(s). You cruise around the neighborhoods, looking for the creeps standing out front the rental house ALL DAY LONG, with the hood up on the car, pretending they are working on the vehicle, except they're not really. They are the lookouts, who attract the drive-by customers, who KNOW what to look for. Kinda like, the kid on the busy street corner, who's flipping around the advertising poster. The "Front Yard" creeps attract the customers, and warn the seller inside about cops driving by, so they can drop the goods down the toilet in plenty of time. Dopey Schwingdorf isn't very Streetwise.
Lennie is a good kid and this is just plain silly let him go...
LV boomed because it was an island of hedonism in an overly paternalistic national society. Now the national society has begun to look more like Vegas used to, with legalized gambling in nearly every state and almost all Americans living within a couple hours' drive of a casino. Legalizing marijuana in LV could help to mitigate some of that impact by restoring LV as a place to go and do "naughty" things that you can't do as easily (or legally) in another state.