SAN DIEGO — A medical marijuana advocate who pleaded guilty in May to a drug possession charges, was ordered Tuesday to pay a $100 fine and given credit for a brief stint in jail.
Donna Lambert, 48, who was part of a marijuana collective in San Diego, pleaded guilty May 27 to felony possession for sale and misdemeanor possession. She withdrew her plea on the felony Tuesday and the charge was dismissed.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the felony if Lambert remained law-abiding until her sentencing date.
In addition to seven counts of illegal drug sales, Lambert was accused of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Most of those charges were dismissed in light of the plea, said Deputy District Attorney Steven Walter.
He said Lambert had only served about a day in custody.
Lambert was accused of providing marijuana to an undercover police detective who was posing as a medical marijuana patient as part of a larger investigation dubbed Operation Green Rx. Police raided her San Diego home in February 2009 and found two guns, both of which were registered and legal.
Jovan Jackson and Eugene Davidovich, both of whom were linked to marijuana dispensaries, were acquitted of drug charges in separate trials in December 2009 and March 2010, respectively. Both said they believed their actions were legal under California law.
Jackson went to trial again last month on a separate set of charges stemming from Operation Green Rx, and was convicted. In that case, a judge ruled that Jackson could not use the state’s medical marijuana law as a defense.
SAN DIEGO -- A local medical marijuana collective operator accused of being a drug dealer insists he has done nothing wrong as his trial began Thursday.
Surveillance video from a November 2008 undercover drug operation showed what prosecutors called an illegal drug deal between marijuana advocate Eugene Davidovich and an undercover detective.
Deputy District Attorney Theresa Pham said, "In order to be able to facilitate the investigation -- the operation -- it was necessary for him to take on an undercover alias."
In the footage, two men are seen standing on the porch outside a Pacific Beach home. The undercover officer posed as a medical marijuana user under the alias Jamie Conlen. Davidovich admitted he came to the home to sell marijuana.
Defense attorney Michael McCabe said, "He believed, legitimately, that Jamie Conlen was in fact a legitimate patient."
McCabe said Davidovich operates a medical marijuana collective, which allows medical marijuana patients to produce and sell marijuana to each other as long as they are not doing so for profit under Prop. 215.
McCabe said Davidovich made it clear in early phone conversations with his buyer that the purchase was part of the collective.
On Wednesday, the undercover officer told jurors he did not recall Davidovich mentioning the collective and insisted it appeared to simply be an illegal drug deal.
The surveillance footage showed Davidovich asking for the undercover officer's medical marijuana ID card outside the home, and then the actual transaction took place inside the home.
The officer said he never recorded the audio from the phone conversations he had with Davidovich. McCabe said it is evidence that would have proven his client was upfront and innocent.
The undercover drug operation was part of a program called Operation Endless Summer.
The goal of the operation was to wipe out drug trafficking within San Diego's military housing areas.
Eugene Davidovich is currently facing a Jury Trial which is scheduled to start on Tuesday March 2nd. The trial is related to the February 2009 (Operation Endless Summer / Green Rx) raids, orchestrated by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and her Cross Jurisdictional Narcotics Task Force (NTF).
Come show your court support for Eugene as well as to see for yourself how medical cannabis patients are being treated in court in San Diego.
Date: Tuesday March 2nd, 2010 Time: 9:00am Location:
San Diego Superior Court [map]
220 W Broadway
San Diego CA 92101-3886
Court Support for Eugene Davidovich (NORML suports Eugene Davidovich) (http://eugenedavidovich.com/) and all those on trial. Be there to show your support.
Department 11 is an assignment room where Eugene will be sent to an unknown courtroom in front of whatever judge is available that morning. Dept. 11:
DAVID J. DANIELSEN 220 W. Broadway, San Diego 08:30AM CA vs DAVIDOVICH, EUGENE ZHENYA SCD218322-01 DISCOVERY HEARING
Thank You,
Craig Beresh & Rafal Mazur on behalf of Southern California NORML
MEDICAL MARIJUANA: DOES SAN DIEGO HAVE A SHERIFF ARPAIO?
By Walter Davis
Eugene Davidovich is a Navy veteran. His service connected health issues resulted in his doctor authorizing medical marijuana. Now, he faces four felony charges and the possibility of a long jail sentence.
According to Americans for Safe Access San Diego, the local District Attorney is aggressively pursuing users of Medical Marijuana in San Diego. Aggressive arrest tactics are reportedly in place despite state laws that make medical marijuana use legal and the recent federal guidelines that indicate federal authorities will not be pursuing charges against medical marijuana users in states where such use is legal.
Marijuana is effective for conditions including glaucoma, cancer, aids, migraine headaches, and people suffering pain from extensive burns. Victims of the recent fires in the county have been authorized by doctors to use medical marijuana.
According to the Drug Policy Alliance and Esquire.com, every 17 seconds someone is arrested on a drug violation and every 38 seconds someone is arrested for a cannabis violation in this country. Felony charges result in a life time of punishment for previously convicted people. They have challenges getting employment even after they stop using and are frequently left with no choice but to return to crime. They are punished over and over again and often cannot qualify for public assistance.
Insurance companies often do not cover addiction treatment; prevention programs are scarce. American tax payers get an annual bill for more than 52 billion dollars, for the war against drugs. With schools closing, Americans lacking health care and San Diego needing fire protection equipment, is this a logical use of resources? Further, the flow of drugs is not being stemmed. 15,000 people lose their lives each year in the current drug war. The number of lives being claimed in Chicago and New Orleans alone exceeds the number of lives lost in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan annually.
President Nixon classified marijuana a schedule 1 drug in the 1970’s. In 1986, President Reagan set the minimum sentencing guidelines. This revoked discretion among local judges forcing them to hand down long prison sentences to drug offenders. Prisoners get drugs in prison easily and treatment is not a viable option; this appears to be a barbaric method of managing this problem with no sign of abatement.
There has been an 80% increase in the prison population since 1986. The average sentence in prison is 56.8 months. The average sentence for violent crimes is 63 months. The average sentence for drug offenses is 76 months.
In the 1960’s Bull Conner ignored federal authorities who ordered him to cease targeting African Americans. Sheriff Arpaio is targeting Latinos in Arizona despite federal guidelines opposed to his actions. Voter’s wishes, civil and human rights are being violated in 2009 in San Diego for political gain. Should valuable tax dollars and police services be expended to go after medical marijuana users consuming legally?
Walter Davis is head of the San Diego Community Coalition, authors a syndicated newspaper column and assists nonprofit and community groups develop media campaigns, including public access television programming.The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of its author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine.
Visit Eugene Davidovich at his website: www.eugenedavidovich.com
STOP OPERATION GREEN RX DUMANIS - Bonnie Dumanis and her fierce fight against medical marijuana in San Diego continues to raid legitimate patients and abuse her power as the District Attorney for her own political gain.
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