Leader of Merced Pot Club Wins Evidentiary Hearing - Denies Validity of Search Warrants

*Leader of Medical Marijuana Co-op Wins Evidentiary Hearing -*
*Denies Validity of Search Warrants Used Against Him*

*Media Advisory: *February 22, 2006

*WHAT: Evidentiary hearing for Dustin Costa, leader of the Merced Patients Group, before Judge Anthony W. Ishii*

*WHERE: US District Court, Eastern District of California,
Courtroom 2, new Courthouse now in use: 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, 93721

*WHEN: **Friday, February 24, 2005** at **2:00 pm**
**Supporters of Dustin Costa will be available for
comment on plaza in front of new Federal Courthouse
from **1:30-2:00 pm**

Merced activists believe the federal case of medical
marijuana patient, caregiver, and activist Dustin Costa
represents a dangerous turn for California's medical
marijuana law, as the arrest of DC on federal charges
for medical marijuana cultivation was effectively a
re-arrest for what had originally been a state case.
This was the third case in 2005 in which California
law enforcement in the Central Valley has conspired
with the DEA to deny a fair trial to a
patient-caregiver who sought to operate legally in
accordance with Prop. 215.

Costa’s case stems from a February 2004 raid on his
farm in Winton that turned up some 900 plants, 8.8 lbs
of dried marijuana, and a shotgun.

After 18 months of continuances in Merced County
Superior Court, Costa was taken into federal custody
on August 10, 2005, five days before state charges
were dropped. In a federal trial the jury will not be
allowed to weigh Costa’s defense that the cannabis was
all destined for medical users and dispensaries. Tom
O’Connell, MD, who was seeing patients in Merced,
notes, "The arrest of Dustin Costa on a federal
warrant, while he was on bail for the same charges by
the state -- was a shameful injustice. Whatever legal
arguments may justify it; there's little doubt it is
political punishment of an activist for his views.”

Costa, 58, is a Vietnam-era Marine Corps vet who has
experience as a union organizer. Instead of retreating
after being arrested, he devoted himself to building
the Merced Patients Group, a medical marijuana
patients cooperative. McPike, who represented Costa in
County Superior Court, notes, “Dustin is a political
prisoner in the war against the medical benefits of
using marijuana. This should alarm all Californians
about the power of the US government and why it wants
to ignore laws that we as the largest populated state
pass.”

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