Calaveras County/New pot case, same defendant

New pot case, same defendant
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=17008
Published: April 6, 2005

By MIKE MORRIS

A Vallecito man acquitted five years ago of drug charges will stand trial
on new allegations that he cultivated and sold marijuana, a judge ruled
yesterday.

Sheriff's Sgt. Eddie Ballard testified at the Calaveras County Superior
Court preliminary hearing that he found 33 marijuana plants and at least
one pound of processed pot at the home of Bill Harrison, 55.

Ballard ­ the hearing's only witness ­ said he was called out to Harrison's
property, near the intersection of Highway 4 and Parrotts Ferry Road, to
investigate an armed robbery on Sept. 23, 2003.

Harrison had previously reported the robbers, who had shotguns and
machetes, attempted to kill him, his friend and his dog while stealing his
marijuana plants.

Ballard said Harrison had a 12-plant garden in front of his home surrounded
by sheet metal. While looking for the robbers, a deputy also found a
21-plant garden guarded by chicken wire about 300 feet behind the house.

Ballard said he found at least one pound of processed marijuana divided
into multiple bags inside Harrison's house.

In the back of a U-Haul moving truck, found in the driveway about 25 feet
from the 12-plant garden, a pile of branches containing marijuana were cut
from nine mature plants, Ballard said.

That marijuana, which totaled more than 10 pounds, was dried for evidence,
he said.

Ballard told Deputy District Attorney Seth Matthews that he returned to
Harrison's house on Dec. 4, 2003, and found an electronic scale, more than
$1,700 in cash, and 1 1/2 pounds of processed marijuana.

He said he also found more than 2 pounds of pot divided into roughly 10
bags in a barn loft on Harrison's property.

Harrison's lawyer said her client sells sculptures and people had paid him
rent, suggesting why he had a large amount of cash.

Ballard said a former tenant of Harrison's told him that she would sell pot
for Harrison in exchange for the drug.

For every eighth of an ounce she sold, she would receive about $5 worth of
pot, Ballard testified.

Ballard said Harrison told him in September 2003 that he smoked three to
seven grams of marijuana a day. If he felt no pain that day, he wouldn't
smoke at all, Ballard said Harrison told him.

If someone were to smoke three grams of pot every day for a year they would
smoke a total of about 2 1/2 pounds, Ballard testified.

Ballard said he couldn't recall Harrison telling him that he sold the
marijuana, but he did remember Harrison mentioning that he gives the pot away.

"I believe Mr. Harrison possessed that marijuana for the purpose of
(selling it)," Ballard said.

The reasons Ballard gave as to why he felt Harrison was selling the
marijuana was because he had found a scale and the pot was divided into
"increments consistent with the sale of marijuana."

Thomas Smith, a visiting El Dorado County judge, agreed there was enough
evidence to try Harrison for cultivating marijuana and possessing the drug
for sale.

Harrison last month pleaded not guilty to those charges. He was booked and
released from the county jail on March 15.

These are the latest charges involving Harrison, marijuana and Calaveras
County.

A Calaveras County jury in January 2000 acquitted Harrison, who used
Proposition 215 to defend his marijuana use. California voters passed
Proposition 215 in November 1996, allowing people with a doctor's
prescription to possess or grow marijuana for personal use.

Calaveras County guidelines allow a person to have six marijuana plants
growing and 2 pounds of processed pot.

Harrison has a Proposition 215 license prescribed by a doctor.

The jury found Harrison not guilty of cultivating and possessing 64
marijuana plants, however, they did convict him of felony gun possession.

Harrison, previously convicted of marijuana cultivation in 1988, claimed he
needs marijuana for medical purposes.

A former landscaper contractor who had done maintenance work at Bret Harte
High School, Harrison said he uses marijuana to ease chronic rib pain and
vertigo he suffers from.

Free on his own recognizance, Harrison will be arraigned at 10 a.m. April 18.

Contact Mike Morris at mmorris [at] uniondemocrat.com or 588-4537.