Update May 7, 2015

BRIEF OF SENATOR MARK LENO (SD-11), SENATOR MIKE MCGUIRE (SD-02), AND FORMER SENATOR DARRELL STEINBERG AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF CHARLES C. LYNCH’S MOTION FOR REHEARING EN BANC

California Senators Mark Leno (SD-11), Senator Mike McGuire (SD-02), and Former Senator Darrell Steinberg file legal documents in support of Charles Lynch. Leno was the principal coauthor of Senate Bill (SB) 420 the California Law which legalized Medical Marijuana.

"Whether a defendant complied with California law under Section 538 is a question for California, not DOJ."

Update May 5, 2015

BRIEF OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ROHRABACHER (R-CA) AND FARR (D-CA) AS AMICI IN SUPPORT OF CHARLES C. LYNCH’S MOTION FOR REHEARING EN BANC

Members of Congress Dana Rohrabacher and Sam Farr file amicus brief to 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of ending Lynch's Federal prosecution for Medical Marijuana.

"Spending federal funds so the DOJ can continue looking over the shoulder of California, and other medical marijuana states, second guessing those states’ law enforcement and charging decisions, and stepping in to bring federal criminal prosecutions against lawabiding citizens like Lynch, tramples on state sovereignty, is a waste of federal tax dollars, and is exactly what Section 538 prohibits."

Update April 27, 2015

MOTION FOR REHEARING EN BANC

Charles Lynch's Federal Public Defenders filed a MOTION FOR REHEARING EN BANC regarding his Section 538 Motion. Previously a panel of three 9th Circuit Court Judges denied Lynch's request to enforce Section 538 to end his prosecution. Lynch is appealing this decision requesting that a larger panel of judges decide on the issue. Counsel for United States Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Sam Farr prepare amicus brief in support of Lynch's 538 Motion.

"This case presents an issue of exceptional, national, and urgent importance:"

"Indeed, federal prosecutors appearing before this Court and district courts of this Circuit are committing criminal acts by spending unauthorized funds on medical marijuana prosecutions. This Court has the duty and authority to prevent the unlawful practice of law within the Court’s jurisdiction, and should not abdicate its responsibility to decide a ripe issue presented in the proper forum, thereby allowing the government’s unlawful conduct to continue unchecked."

"They are expressly awaiting guidance from this Court. This Court’s failure to act expeditiously to enforce Section 538 is effectively sanctioning the DOJ’s illegal interpretation of the law."

UPDATE April 13, 2015

9th Circuit Court of Appeals Rules on Lynch Section 538 Motion

April 13, 2015; The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on Lynch's Urgent Section 538 motion. The justices agreed to rule on Lynch's 'Urgent Motion' but unfortunately decided to punt Lynch down field on the Section 538 Motion telling him to either go back to the district court or file the motion with his 3rd cross appeal. Lynch's Federal Public Defenders are planning Lynch's strategy. Also since the Justices refused to rule on the case they said the Government's request for a Merits Panel was moot.

The 9th District Court of Appeals has created a webpage for the USA vs Lynch showdown due to the level of interest in the case.

Note: The order refers to FRAP 12.1, which they reference, it says:
FRAP 12.1. REMAND AFTER AN INDICATIVE RULING BY THE DISTRICT COURT ON A MOTION FOR RELIEF THAT IS BARRED BY A PENDING APPEAL
(a) Notice to the Court of Appeals. If a timely motion is made in the district court for relief that it lacks authority to grant because of an appeal that has been docketed and is pending, the movant must promptly notify the circuit clerk if the district court states either that it would grant the motion or that the motion raises a substantial issue.
(b) Remand After an Indicative Ruling. If the district court states that it would grant the motion or that the motion raises a substantial issue, the court of appeals may remand for further proceedings but retains jurisdiction unless it expressly dismisses the appeal. If the court of appeals remands but retains jurisdiction, the parties must promptly notify the circuit clerk when the district court has decided the motion on remand.
(As added Mar. 26, 2009, eff. Dec. 1, 2009.)

UPDATE April 10, 2015

Lynch Files Supplemental Exhibit R

April 10, 2015; In a different medical marijuana case the Federal Government filed court documents under seal in response to 3 defendant's claim of ending sentencing, probation violations and prosecution based on Section 538. The District Court ordered the Government to release the document. The Government has relunctantly released this redacted copy of thier motions against Section 538 defendants. Charles Lynch's Federal Public Defender has again captured the moment and submitted this supplementary document to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is tricky but Lynch is reading it that the Government concedes that it cannot continue prosecutions and wants to delay these cases until the Section 538 law expires in Septemper 2015. And they want to do this under seal and redact and hide the truth from the people. So here it is folks the Federal Government's War on Drugs may over and prosecutors are trying to hide (ie seal/redact) their work because they know they are breaking the Appropriations Act, 2015 at this point.

UPDATE April 9, 2015

Lynch Files Supplemental EXHIBITS N THROUGH Q

Last night April 8, 2015 I sent Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) a message via his Facebook account. Also I posted a response to Sam Farr's (D-Calif.) message regarding Section 538. This morning I was surprised to hear from Mr. Farr in support of ending my case. Also I had an article in the New York Times today and Rohrabacher and Farr sent the DOJ a letter informing them to end medical marijuana prosecutions. My Federal Public Defender was quick to capture the moment and filed a Supplemental motion to the 9th circuit court of appeals. The motion has screen shots of my correspondence with Senator Farr, a copy of the New York Times Story and the Letter sent to DOJ from Rohrabacher and Farr.

UPDATE April 3, 2015

Government files REPLY IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT’S SECTION 538 MOTION WITH FOURTH BRIEF ON CROSS-APPEAL

Last night (April 2, 2015) Federal Prosecutor David Kowal stayed up late into the night and filed the Government's response to Lynch's Sec 538 Motion at 11:07 pm.

Basically Government wants a merits panel to review Lynch's Sec 538 request.

"As set forth above, however, because the truncated, incomplete procedure requested by defendant for resolving the Section 538 issue is inappropriate, imprudent and unfair, defendant’s motion should be referred to the merits panel assigned to resolve these consolidated cross-appeals and the government should be permitted to file its response along with its fourth and final brief."

Prosecutor also reminds us the US Solicitor General has authorized his work:

This is particularly so where, as is the case with the government’s cross-appeal here, the appeal is a government affirmative appeal authorized by the United States Solicitor General.

Government also reminds us that Lynch has stalled the case for years and is now demanding Urgent Motions:

"Moreover, as reflected in the government’s second brief on cross-appeal, the government continually sought prompt resolution of sentencing and other post-trial issues in district court, only to be thwarted by the successful attempts of defendant and the district court to repeatedly continue and delay matters..."

The Government starts tearing the new Sec 538 law apart by stating the following

"Section 538 says nothing about “local laws,” but rather “State laws.”

And finally the Government Prosecutor is feeling confident about his work:

"The government is confident that when this Court reviews the entire briefing and full district court record in this matter that it will reject defendant’s Section 538 claim"

Lynch noted that he 'was tired of being a pawn in this stupid game of legal jeopardy' and that he has not had gainful employment for over two years mostly due to the pending dark cloud case hanging over him for eight years. He said he would continue the fight regardless because our Government is not treating people fairly and the time is NOW for change. Lynch threw out one of his favorite quotes "Just Say NOW! to legalization.

UPDATE MARCH 23, 2015

Lynch Files Urgent Motion for Judgement

UPDATE: March 23, 2015 Lynch's Federal Public Defenders filed an Urgent Motion to the 9th Circuit Court of appeals along with a response to the latest governments last response to Lynch's Sec 538 Motion. Seems that the Section 538 law will expire on September 30 2015. Feds want to delay the case and Lynch wants justice now. Click the buttons below to view the documents.

UPDATE March 10, 2015

Government Files GOVERNMENT’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT’S SECTION 538 MOTION WITH FOURTH BRIEF ON CROSS-APPEAL

On March 10, 2015 the Federal Government filed their response to Lynch's Section 538 Motion. The Government wants Lynch's 538 Motion to be reviewed by a 'merits panel'.

"To the government’s knowledge, defendant’s motion is the first appellate filing in the country to invoke Section 538 against the government. To the extent that this Court elects to publish its decision resolving defendant’s motion, that decision will be binding precedent in each of the 12 federal judicial districts in the eight states mentioned in Section 538. This Court has a long tradition of referring such potentially precedent-setting motions to merits panels."

The Government is also seeking to have Judge Wu remanded from the Lynch case:

"...because the government—with the approval of the United States Solicitor General—has sought reassignment to a different district judge for any further proceedings on remand."

The Government wants Lynch's Appeal and Section 538 Motions considered together and says:

"It will also give the government the opportunity for full consideration and briefing of what is essentially a new ground for dismissing its conviction, presented for the first time on appeal by means of a motion."

Finally what the Government is requesting in the Response:

"...For all these reasons, this Court should refer defendant’s motion to the merits panel assigned to hear these consolidated cross-appeals..."

February 24, 2015

Lynch Files Section 538 Motion

February 24, 2015 Federal Medical Marijuana Defendant Charles Lynch, who's prosecution for operating a city sanctioned medical marijuana facility in California goes into the eighth year, has filed a motion in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based on the new Federal spending bill which cuts Federal funding for medical marijuana prosecutions in Medical Marijuana states such as California. Lynch's motion asserts that Federal Prosecutors are now in violation of section 538 of the 2015 spending bill by continuing the Federal Prosecution pertaining to Lynch's medical marijuana dispensary. Lynch's motion was filed by his Federal Public Defenders on February 24, 2015.

The motion's page count exceeds the 9th circuit's maximum page length, so a request to file an oversized brief has also been filed. This is interesting because the Federal Public Defenders did not alert the Prosecutors of the motion being filed stating that since they should not be spending any more funds on the case they should not be notified of the motions.

Also In the past few months Lynch's Federal Public Defenders have been trying to work out a deal with the Federal Prosecutors based on the new 2015 laws. Lynch's attorneys offered a now commonly used procedure for non-violent Federal Drug Crimes where the defendant performs some sort of probation and at the end of the probation the defendant's felony record is cleared. The Federal Prosecutors office never officially responded to Lynch's proposal only saying it's highly unlikely a deal would be reached. Based on that Lynch's attorneys decided it was time to file the Section 538 Motion.