United States v. Duval, No. 12-2338 (6th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseGerald and his adult children, Jeremy and Ashley, grew marijuana on Gerald’s farm. As a “patient” under Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA), Gerald was permitted to grow no more than 12 marijuana plants for personal use. His children, both registered as MMMA “patients” and “caregivers” could grow up to 72 marijuana plants apiece. In 2011, officers executed search warrants at Gerald’s farm, confiscating more than 100 marijuana plants, drug paraphernalia, and firearms. Gerald and Jeremy were charged with conspiracy to manufacture 100 or more marijuana plants, 21 U.S.C. 841(a) and 846; manufacturing 100 or more marijuana plants with the intent to distribute the drug, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); maintaining a drug premises, 21 U.S.C. 856(a)(1); and possessing a firearm in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. 924(c). The government also charged Gerald as a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). A jury convicted them on the drug-related counts, but acquitted them on the counts related to the firearms. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that the district court erred in concluding that compliance with the MMMA was irrelevant to the warrant application and that the indictment did not allege a federal crime because the Duvals are registered MMMA “caregivers” and because Jeremy qualifies under the “practitioner exception” of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 802(21).
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