Medical marijuana couple
finally get their dope back
Exclusive to the Sacramento Bee
MARYSVILLE 5/6/02 (YSN) -- Doyle and Belinda Satterfield trooped out of the Yuba County courthouse Monday toting several plastic bin liners and brown paper grocery bags filled with perfectly legal medical-use marijuana.
Their victorious exit ended a standoff with the Sheriff Virginia Black, who last week refused to honor a judge's order to give the Satterfields back their dope. Black argued, unsuccessfully, that returning it would violate a conflicting federal law.
"I hope all law enforcement agencies in the area will use this experience to establish policies for handling similar situations in the future, said Jud Waggoner, who represented Belinda Satterfield.
The Satterfields did not comment, but Waggoner said afterwards they were "relieved" the dispute was over.
The Satterfields were arrested Aug. 17, 2001 when a posse of drug enforcement agents descended on their Linda home to yank out 37 plants and seize some 4.5 pounds of dried leaf.
Charges of illegal cultivation and possession of marijuana were dismissed in January after satisfying the county district attorney that they held valid medical prescriptions for palliative pot under California's voter-passed Compassionate Use Act.
Typically, police destroy most seized marijuana, perserving small samples for use in court. Anticipating this, lawyers for the Satterfields had obtained a restraining order barring the destruction pending a final court decision.
However, when the couple went to the sheriffs department April 29 to pick up their pot, Black sent them away empty-handed. They returned with a court order from Superior Court Judge James Curry, but Black still balked.
The Satterfields' lawyers fired back with a threat to have Black cited for contempt of court, which led to a hasty meeting Friday where another judge worked out a compromise: Black would return the dope to the court, not the Satterfields.
In a dramatic move, Black then and there left the court, coming back with a shopping cart loaded with bags of cannabis.
Although Doyle and Belinda Satterfield - who appear to be in the late 50s and reportedly suffer from arthritis and breast cancer, respectively - were in the courtroom at the time, they were told they had to wait until Monday to get their medicine.
The actual hand-over took place in the administrative offices of the court, Waggoner said.
"There was one whole plant sticking out of a black plastic garbage bag. Other marijuana material was in brown plastic bags. The dried marijuana was in grocery bags," Waggoner described.
"We didn't weigh it out or count it out, or anything. They had an inventory all ready for us," Waggoner added.
finally get their dope back
Exclusive to the Sacramento Bee
MARYSVILLE 5/6/02 (YSN) -- Doyle and Belinda Satterfield trooped out of the Yuba County courthouse Monday toting several plastic bin liners and brown paper grocery bags filled with perfectly legal medical-use marijuana.
Their victorious exit ended a standoff with the Sheriff Virginia Black, who last week refused to honor a judge's order to give the Satterfields back their dope. Black argued, unsuccessfully, that returning it would violate a conflicting federal law.
"I hope all law enforcement agencies in the area will use this experience to establish policies for handling similar situations in the future, said Jud Waggoner, who represented Belinda Satterfield.
The Satterfields did not comment, but Waggoner said afterwards they were "relieved" the dispute was over.
The Satterfields were arrested Aug. 17, 2001 when a posse of drug enforcement agents descended on their Linda home to yank out 37 plants and seize some 4.5 pounds of dried leaf.
Charges of illegal cultivation and possession of marijuana were dismissed in January after satisfying the county district attorney that they held valid medical prescriptions for palliative pot under California's voter-passed Compassionate Use Act.
Typically, police destroy most seized marijuana, perserving small samples for use in court. Anticipating this, lawyers for the Satterfields had obtained a restraining order barring the destruction pending a final court decision.
However, when the couple went to the sheriffs department April 29 to pick up their pot, Black sent them away empty-handed. They returned with a court order from Superior Court Judge James Curry, but Black still balked.
The Satterfields' lawyers fired back with a threat to have Black cited for contempt of court, which led to a hasty meeting Friday where another judge worked out a compromise: Black would return the dope to the court, not the Satterfields.
In a dramatic move, Black then and there left the court, coming back with a shopping cart loaded with bags of cannabis.
Although Doyle and Belinda Satterfield - who appear to be in the late 50s and reportedly suffer from arthritis and breast cancer, respectively - were in the courtroom at the time, they were told they had to wait until Monday to get their medicine.
The actual hand-over took place in the administrative offices of the court, Waggoner said.
"There was one whole plant sticking out of a black plastic garbage bag. Other marijuana material was in brown plastic bags. The dried marijuana was in grocery bags," Waggoner described.
"We didn't weigh it out or count it out, or anything. They had an inventory all ready for us," Waggoner added.
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