Pubdate: Wed, 19 Oct 2011
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2011 Chico Enterprise-Record
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Author: Ryan Olson

WITNESS ARRESTED AFTER HE TESTIFIES

OROVILLE - A defense attorney is outraged after Butte County deputies 
arrested a witness after he testified on behalf of a man facing 
marijuana charges.

Tuesday Jeffrey Lee Sanford was arrested in the Butte County Superior 
Court hallway after he testified in the preliminary hearing of 
Timothy Ole Skytte, 31. Skytte faces felony counts of cultivating 
marijuana and possessing it for sale. He is also charged with felony 
counts of illegally possessing a stun gun and money laundering.

Skytte was arrested on Aug. 18 after deputies discovered 54 pot 
plants growing on his Yana Trail property in Concow. Officers also 
found 369 plants on an Ishi Trail property Skytte rented to another 
man identified as Lawrence Evans.

Sanford, president of the 30th Street Patient Collective in San 
Diego, testified Skytte was a member of his 4,200-person collective 
and was one of a dozen vendors who helped furnish the group with marijuana.

Skytte also leased part of the Yana Trail property to Sanford to grow 
medicinal marijuana for collective members.

Before Sanford testified, Judge Steven Howell thoroughly questioned 
him about his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and 
repeatedly offered to provide a public defender.

Sanford said he was confident he could testify although he may put 
himself at risk.

"I feel I have an obligation to my friend, Tim," Sanford said.

After Sanford was arrested, Skytte's attorney Jodea Foster said he 
would challenge the Butte County District Attorney's Office action as 
prosecutorial misconduct.

Foster said the arrest affects his client's defense because Sanford 
could now plead the Fifth and no longer testify in Skytte's case.

"The people in this county should be outraged that that's the way our 
District Attorney's Office handles issues," Foster said.

Deputy district attorney Jeff Greeson said Sanford's testimony 
established a connection to Butte County and led to the probable 
cause to arrest him. Foster disputed Greeson's claims, saying the 
prosecution had interviewed Sanford before Tuesday. He said Sanford 
did not provide any new information on the stand.

Sanford testified he founded the collective nearly three years ago, 
but was now preparing to close it after receiving a letter from the 
U.S. Justice Department. He said he met Skytte through a mutual 
friend more than two years ago. Skytte became a member of the group 
and began supplying pot.

According to sheriff's detective Douglas Patterson, Skytte said 30 
plants on the Yana Trail property were under Sanford's control, 
growing under six San Diego recommendations.

Patterson said the recommendations were all valid; however, four San 
Diego collective members contacted by police were unaware and upset 
their recommendations were being used for a grow. The detective also 
said many members said they belonged to more than one collective.

Sanford said recommendations were selected at random for the grow. He 
said he assumed collective members gave their consent when they 
signed a membership agreement. While the agreement doesn't expressly 
say a plant would be grown for the patient, he said the agreement 
notes growing is a "real-life expense."

In addition to providing the recommendations, Sanford prepared 
letters to Evans and Skytte that they could provide to police if 
stopped while transporting pot to San Diego. Sanford said he could 
refuse delivery if the marijuana didn't appear to be medicinal 
quality. If it was acceptable, he would pay rates of $1,110 to $3,200 
per pound.

Greeson said the collective was a dispensary providing a cover for 
commercial sales. He said the case is an example of the abuse of the 
collective laws.

"This is a mockery of Proposition 215," Greeson said.

Foster said the legality of Sanford's operation is disputed by many 
jurisdictions. He argued there may not be enough evidence for the 
money laundering charge against Skytte because there is some question 
where the money came from.

Ultimately, the judge found there was sufficient evidence to hold 
Skytte for trial on all counts.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom