Corning pot case turns federal

A couple accused in Tehama County of growing a large amount of marijuana received good news and bad news when they went to plea their case before a Corning judge last week. The good news was that Tehama County was dropping all charges. The bad news, they were told while being arrested by sheriff’s deputies, was that the county’s district attorney was turning the case over to the U.S. government.

David Davidson, of Oakland, and Cynthia Blake, of Red Bluff, were apparently left in the courtroom while their lawyers met with the prosecution in judges’ chambers to discuss a defense motion for dismissal. While the meeting was in progress, Blake and Davidson were cuffed and whisked out a side door for transport to Sacramento, where a grand jury had earlier indicted them on drug manufacturing charges.

Both are now accused of growing more than 100 plants and conspiring to grow more than 1,000, charges that carry mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years in prison, with the maximum sentence being life in prison. Both have doctors’ recommendations for medical marijuana, but it is not clear whether they were growing for their personal use or were designated caregivers for other patients. Lawyers for the pair told reporters that neither had any plans to sell marijuana and decried the D.A.'s move, calling it “terrible, illegal and underhanded.”

Assistant D.A. Jonathon Skillman defended the arrests, saying that the pair would have had a hard time convincing a jury that they were growing for personal use anyway.

“We’re not talking 20 plants here, where there is arguably a legitimate amount for personal use,” Skillman said. “When we have this much marijuana, that [medical] argument is no longer viable.”

Skillman also denied that it was unusual to arrest defendants in court, especially in multi-jurisdictional drug cases.

“Normal procedure was followed,” he said. “Large marijuana grows are almost always handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Blake and Davidson, both in their early 50s, were arrested last July by a task force that included agents from both federal and local law enforcement agencies. The couple was arrested at Blake’s home in Red Bluff, where agents allegedly seized 33 plants. That raid led authorities to secure a warrant to search Davidson’s home in Oakland, where they found 400 plants, most of which were tiny, one-leaf cuttings. Tehama County has no guidelines as to how much marijuana a patient can grow, whereas Oakland patients are allowed to grow as many as 72 mature plants.

Though the pair had been working on a medical-necessity defense, that is not an option in federal court. The case is reminiscent of a similar one in Butte County, where Chicoan Brian Epis was turned over for federal prosecution after he tried to start a medical-cannabis dispensary here. He refused a plea bargain and was found guilty of conspiracy to grow 1,000 plants. Epis is currently in prison while his case is under appeal.