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Four Tuolumne County residents accused of illegally selling medical marijuana sought to delay entering their pleas Monday in order to attempt having their charges dismissed. Sara Herrin, 55, Danny Joe Geller Herrin, 27, Jana Marie Evans, 59, and Nancy June Smith, 57, were all in Tuolumne County Superior Court for an arraignment following a March 23 preliminary hearing. At the preliminary hearing, Judge Eleanor Provost found there was probable cause to move forward with the trial. One charge against Danny Joe Geller Herrin for the alleged possession of psilocybin mushrooms was dropped.
The four were arrested after Tuolumne County authorities in May raided their Today’s Health Collective medical marijuana dispensary on Via Este Road. They were accused of operating the collective as a for-profit business, which is against state laws governing medical pot. Five others from two separate medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Tuolumne County were also arrested in the May raids. Those cases resulted in guilty pleas after defendants were not allowed to argue for protection under medical marijuana laws. Katherine Hallinan, of the Pier 5 Law Offices in San Francisco, was in court Monday to represent the group on behalf of their other three attorneys who couldn’t make it. She asked Judge William Polley to delay the hearing so the group could file a demurrer. A demurrer is a pleading that admits truth to facts presented in the prosecution’s complaint, but asserts those facts do not constitute criminal behavior. Polley agreed to delay the hearing and set a new date for May 7. Hallinan admitted it is unlikely the demurrer will be upheld considering the convictions in other cases and progress thus far in the case against the Today’s Health Collective workers. “We want the opportunity to educate the court in what the case is about,” she said. “There is a lot of case law supporting the argument that what they did was lawful.” Hallinan said the attorneys will simultaneously file a motion to have Provost’s decision at the preliminary hearing reviewed by another judge. The next step, if that should fail, is taking the case to the appellate courts, she said.
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