Racial Profiling & Medical Marijuana Don't Mix

Behind the minutiae of marijuana raids, there is a big picture with law enforcement patterns that sweep the landscape and ruin people's lives.

Racial profiling cases have now entered the Mendocino County scene. On May 22, two African Americans, Brandon Sanders and John Rhone, were driving south on Highway 101, followed by Sheriff's deputies for 20-30 miles from Hopland to the Mendocino-Sonoma border. There were "no driving problems, no speeding, no turn problems", just a leisurely drive with cops behind them for half an hour, until right before the county line, they were stopped for a slight drifting over the line. This was seen in the police video and described by Public Defender Bert Schlosser, representing John Rhone, a cannabis caregiver, at their Preliminary Hearing, Hallowe'en Day. Dep PD Joe Rogoway represented Sanders, the extra driver. Superior Court Judge Ron Brown presided with several supporters and press on hand.

A soundless video showed the long boring ride from inside the cop car, tailing impeccable drivers who did nothing wrong to stop them for. But as they approached the county line, the proverbial "Last Chance" light turned on, alerting deputies eager to get on-the-job training in racial profiling to step on it. It was at that point that the slight drifting--"crossing over the line one time"--took place, the deputies turned on their lights and that was all she wrote.

Deputy Davis was driving a police pick-up that Rhone and Sanders passed parked on the side of the road going through Hopland. Rhone said he was unaware of the vehicle following him in the distance until about 13 miles north of the border.

What the video did not show is what happened right before the stop. "I was driving at one speed on cruise control. Suddenly a big white pick up truck came behind me at super-speed, right on my bumper, his bright lights blinding me. Within 30 seconds of being a distant car in my rearview mirror, I thought I was being followed by some big truck trying to force me off the road. I used my blinker to the right. He followed me. To the left. He followed me. He backed off and then came at me again real fast. I was scared. I didn't know it was police. That's when I drifted over the line."

The video did not show Dep Davis' aggressive driving, essentially provoking a departure from perfect driving. Dep Cox in his police pick-up and dog joined the conversation. The two men were cooperative and non-confrontational when they denied deputies the right to search. "The dog was wagging its tail", according to Schlosser. They ran background checks on Sanders and Rhone and couldn't find anything on them. Both had spotless records, had never been arrested.

Rhone continued, "When Davis saw I had nothing on my record, that's when he got upset. He told us, 'I'm going to arrest you because I don't think you are who you say you are.'" At arraignment, the Judge asked the defendants about the note left by Dep Davis: "Make sure you find out if they are who they say they are." Because both African Americans had a clean record, they are not to be believed? A racist assumption in itself.

Dep DA Schlosser brought up two cases which he argued make the stop illegal. He cited a federal case, Collins (314F3d439), which requires "pronounced weaving"--crossing over the line for 7-10 seconds--as probable cause to pull a vehicle over for that violation. The state case, Mayberry, was also on target. Dep Cox confiscated the keys, immobilizing the vehicle, reportedly saying "I'm taking the keys. I'm going in the trunk. The car is mine."

Schlosser argued, "Mayberry says, once a vehicle is immobilized, they have to get a search warrant, barring exigent circumstances. There were none. There was no public safety issue, no guns, no kind of danger... no one trying to run... Everyone moved about very calmly. They should have gone to get warrants."

As for Rhone's medical marijuana exemption, expert testimony showed he was following legal guidelines. He was carrying 10 pounds of cannabis medicine in boxes for designated patients in Oakland/San Francisco Bay area, with their names on their portion. Rhone said "Six out of the 10 pounds were leaf, only four were bud. My collective values leaf." Rhone said all the marijuana belonged to him and his collective. Sanders was merely asked to help drive.

Dep PD Rogoway defended his client's lack of involvement. "Sanders made a statement (which was reported) through Dep Davis: 'It's my understanding that the marijuana in the vehicle was medical in nature.' There was nothing whatsoever to tie the marijuana to Sanders: no indicia, no processed marijuana, no possession, no packaging, nothing found in the passenger's seat. The recommendation was in Rhone's backpack. Rhone says, 'It's mine. It isn't Sanders.'"

John Rhone, 24, and Brandon Sanders, 23, are upstanding people, serious students, business majors, with no criminal record of any kind. Sanders graduated in three years from UC Berkeley with a business degree and has gone on to post-graduate work. Rhone is concerned that his arrest will prevent him from getting a job as an Oakland firefighter which he took a test and applied for, due to this single arrest on his record, despite legitimacy under Prop 215.

Mendocino County's recent gung-ho law enforcement mentality is now racially profiling African Americans as low-hanging fruit, easy to pick off. If there is any justice, this outrageous case will be thrown out when Judge Brown issues his ruling, after 2 weeks of both sides presenting memos on the precedent cases cited by the defense.

Rhone said, "If you knew my history, you'd understand why I am doing this. I worked with an ambulance company as an Emergency Medical Technician. I thought of going to med school because I wanted to help people. I applied to be a police officer and a firefighter for the same reason. I've never even been near a police officer on criminal charges. I don't even smoke marijuana. I'm a caregiver for others because all I want is to help people."

Pebbles Trippet
Patient Innocence Project
707-964-9377