2008 Woodie Awards
Supporters of medical marijuana law take issue with federal case
John Ellis
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: News
FRESNO, Calif. (MCT) - Luke Scarmazzo is an aspiring hip-hop artist who is facing the possibility of a long stint in prison on federal drug charges.
In the federal government's view, the case against the Modesto, Calif., resident and co-defendant Ricardo Ruiz Montes is fairly simple: they broke the law by selling marijuana through their business, California Healthcare Collective.
That it allegedly was for medical purposes is irrelevant.
But the case - due to start this week in U.S. District Court in Fresno - promises to be anything but straightforward.
For one, there's the ongoing battle between California's Proposition 215, which legalized the medical use of marijuana, and federal law, which views the drug - even when used for medical purposes - as illegal.
The debate didn't end when the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 ruled in favor of the federal government, but it will be on display on the trial's fringes, both with medical marijuana supporters expected in the courtroom and a planned noon rally Tuesday outside the federal courthouse.
As with Dustin Costa, the medical marijuana activist who was convicted in Fresno's federal courthouse on drug charges in 2006, attorneys won't be allowed to take the debate to the jury, because possession or use of the drug is illegal under federal law.
Scarmazzo, who has a prior conviction for assault, is not just a medical marijuana activist.
He starred in a hip-hop video that featured him raising two middle fingers to the camera and declaring "[expletive] the feds."
Prosecutors were incensed by the video, which will be introduced as evidence in the trial.
That prompted Fresno attorney Anthony Capozzi, who is representing Scarmazzo, to say Friday in an interview: "They're going to play it to the jury, and the judge is going to allow it. I can't believe it."
Capozzi added: "The government is just piling it on. They're very vindictive in this case."
Brian Landsberg, a professor at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, said the prosecution might look at the video as establishing or contributing to proof of misconduct.
In the federal government's view, the case against the Modesto, Calif., resident and co-defendant Ricardo Ruiz Montes is fairly simple: they broke the law by selling marijuana through their business, California Healthcare Collective.
That it allegedly was for medical purposes is irrelevant.
But the case - due to start this week in U.S. District Court in Fresno - promises to be anything but straightforward.
For one, there's the ongoing battle between California's Proposition 215, which legalized the medical use of marijuana, and federal law, which views the drug - even when used for medical purposes - as illegal.
The debate didn't end when the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 ruled in favor of the federal government, but it will be on display on the trial's fringes, both with medical marijuana supporters expected in the courtroom and a planned noon rally Tuesday outside the federal courthouse.
As with Dustin Costa, the medical marijuana activist who was convicted in Fresno's federal courthouse on drug charges in 2006, attorneys won't be allowed to take the debate to the jury, because possession or use of the drug is illegal under federal law.
Scarmazzo, who has a prior conviction for assault, is not just a medical marijuana activist.
He starred in a hip-hop video that featured him raising two middle fingers to the camera and declaring "[expletive] the feds."
Prosecutors were incensed by the video, which will be introduced as evidence in the trial.
That prompted Fresno attorney Anthony Capozzi, who is representing Scarmazzo, to say Friday in an interview: "They're going to play it to the jury, and the judge is going to allow it. I can't believe it."
Capozzi added: "The government is just piling it on. They're very vindictive in this case."
Brian Landsberg, a professor at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, said the prosecution might look at the video as establishing or contributing to proof of misconduct.
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