From Fresno, no stranger to strangeness, comes this story of a dispensary owner whose legal problems are self-inflicted in part. Sadly, there is no shortage of dispensary operators who try to skirt zoning regs by flying under the radar or pin their hopes on dubious legal advice in claiming those regs are unconstitutional. If you want to make such arguments, cool, but let a lawyer do the arguing; few judges enjoy or tolerate amateur legal analysis offered by the accused.
– Bud
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An operator of a Fresno medical-marijuana dispensary posted $5,000 bail and got out of jail Wednesday after he promised to return to Fresno County Superior Court for his arraignment on charges of violating a court order.
Rick Morse, owner of Medmar in the Tower District, was held in jail without bail following his arrest Tuesday on misdemeanor charges of selling or distributing marijuana after two judges ordered him not to do it.
On Wednesday, Pablo Lopez of the Fresno Bee reports, Judge Donald Franson Jr. granted Morse’s request for bail so he could hire a lawyer for his Feb. 18 arraignment.
A shackled Morse was defiant in his first court appearance. He laughed when Franson read him his rights and outlined the criminal complaint against him.
Morse, 48, interrupted the judge several times, saying the proceedings were unconstitutional because the city zoning ordinance that prohibits him from selling marijuana to ill patients was unconstitutional.
But Franson said the issue wasn’t whether the city ordinance was constitutional. He wanted to know why Morse failed to appear at a previous court hearing, which resulted in a warrant for his arrest.
Morse blamed a lawyer for getting him in this mess.
Michael Flores, a deputy city attorney, asked Franson to keep Morse in jail with no bail, saying Morse had skipped several court hearings and has publicly stated that the judge has no legal authority over him.
But Franson kept the bail at $5,000 after Morse promised to return to court for his arraignment.
The judge told Morse he has a right to protest, but his concerns should be addressed to City Hall, or in Sacramento or in Washington, D.C. He then told Morse the penalty for missing his Feb. 18 arraignment would be five days in jail and a $1,000 fine. “Hopefully, I got your attention,” Franson said.
California voters passed a law in 1996 that allowed qualified patients to use medical marijuana. But in August, Fresno city officials sued to close nine dispensaries on the grounds that they violate a zoning ordinance that requires them to comply with both the state law and federal law; the latter prohibits marijuana sales.
Franson and Judge Alan Simpson have sided with the city, ordering all nine dispensaries in Fresno to shut down.
Despite the court orders, Morse continued to sell marijuana from his clinic on Olive Avenue near Palm Avenue, Flores told Franson.
On Wednesday, a handful of Morse’s supporters appeared in Franson’s courtroom, taking notes and photographs of the proceedings. During a break, Brandon Morse, 24, knelt in the lobby of the civil courthouse and prayed for his father.
“I prayed for the Lord to soften the hearts of these corrupt officials and to restore our constitutional rights and our trust in America,” he said.
Following his father’s arrest, Brandon Morse said he closed Medmar and he and his father went on a hunger strike. After Franson’s ruling, he said, “The Lord has softened Mr. Franson’s heart.”
Brandon Morse said Medmar will reopen, and he and his father will take Franson up on his advice about protesting. They plan to address the City Council today.
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