Pubdate: Thu, 21 Dec 2000
Source: Record, The (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Record
Contact:  P.O. Box 900, Stockton, CA 95201
Fax: (209) 547-8186
Website: http://www.recordnet.com/
Author: Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau Chief

JUDGE ORDERS POT-GROWING PREACHERS IN SAN ANDREAS TO STAND TRIAL

SAN ANDREAS -- Two Wallace ministers who claimed to be growing marijuana 
for people who had a legal right to it were ordered Wednesday to stand 
trial for illegal cultivation.

Ricky Dewayne Garner, 42, and his wife, Sue Melinda Garner, 40, were held 
to answer in Calaveras County Superior Court on charges of illegal 
cultivation of marijuana, a felony.

However, Judge Nels Fransen ruled after a lengthy preliminary hearing the 
Garners would not have to face a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the 
delinquency of a minor.

The latter charge stemmed from law enforcement's belief that the Garners 
permitted and encouraged their 15-year-old son to use marijuana. A doctor 
testified she had prescribed marijuana to treat the boy's medical 
condition, which she would not reveal.

Fransen ordered the Garners to appear in Superior Court on Jan. 8 for 
arraignment on the cultivation charge.

Sue Garner said after the hearing she was pleased the misdemeanor count was 
dismissed but said Fransen misinterpreted Proposition 215, which makes it 
legal for people suffering from certain medical conditions to use marijuana 
if they have a doctor's recommendation or approval.

The law also states that marijuana possession and cultivation laws do not 
apply to legitimate patients or their primary caregiver, defined as the 
person who has "consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health 
or safety" of a patient.

The Garners' attorneys maintained their clients were assuming the role of 
caregivers for more than a dozen people -- including some as far away as 
Bakersfield -- by growing the marijuana on their property.

"We provided a healthy product from a safe environment -- or we would 
have," said Sue Garner, referring to the fact that law enforcement agents 
uprooted 290 marijuana plants they found growing on three different spots 
on their property during a search in August.

Fransen, in making his ruling, said he questioned the Garners' ability to 
serve as primary caregivers for those living hundreds of miles away.

Prosecutor Seth Matthews raised the same argument.

"What type of caretaking can be given to someone in that situation?" 
Fransen asked. "Could you be a caretaker to my aunt in London?"

The Garners are ministers of the Northern Lights Church, a Universal 
Life-affiliated church that believes cannabis is a "physical and spiritual 
healing sacrament from times of antiquity," according to the church's Web site.

The Garners made no effort to hide their marijuana crop and in fact posted 
signs alerting law enforcement officials that it was being grown for 
medicinal purposes.

Sheriff's Deputy Gary Stevens testified that the amount of marijuana found 
growing on the property was more than two or three -- or even five -- 
people needed for personal use.

But Stevens also testified that during the search of the property, agents 
found written doctors' recommendations for the use of medicinal marijuana 
for both Ricky and Sue Garner and 16 other people.

Stevens also testified that one of the people he interviewed following the 
bust indicated that the Garners would not accept money for the marijuana 
they provided him.

Stevens also testified that agents found no evidence that the Garners had 
sold marijuana to anyone. Processed marijuana found inside the house was 
packaged in a way that indicated it was for personal use -- not for sale, 
Stevens testified.

However, Stevens said it was his suggestion during the raid that the 
marijuana be eradicated because he believed it was too large a crop to be 
grown for medicinal use.

When asked what he thought would be an acceptable number of plants for 
someone to grow for personal medicinal use, Stevens replied, "Two to maybe 
six."
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