Lit_Match

Cops return medical-marijuana files taken in raid — but not the pot
Seattle police returned hundreds of patient files and a computer hard drive to Martin Martinez Thursday evening, two days after they raided his University District storefront where he runs a collective and outreach group for medical-marijuana patients.
07-18-08|Seattle Times|By Sara Jean Green

Seattle police returned hundreds of patient files and a computer hard drive to Martin Martinez Thursday evening, two days after they raided his University District storefront where he runs a collective and outreach group for medical-marijuana patients.

Prosecutors have told Martinez he won't face any charges and the investigation is now closed.

"Nothing is going to happen. It's done," said Douglas Hiatt, Martinez's lawyer, who went to the Seattle Police Department Thursday to pick up the files and other belongings.

But police have so far refused to return about 12 ounces of marijuana and two bongs seized during Tuesday's bust, Hiatt said.

According to Hiatt, a police-department attorney has promised that the drugs and water pipes won't be destroyed until Hiatt can raise the issue with King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg or take the matter to court.

"It's really the principle — if you have the legal right to have something, the police shouldn't be able to take it away from you and not give it back," Hiatt said.

Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for Satterberg, confirmed the files' return and that Martinez would not face criminal charges but referred questions about the seized marijuana to Seattle police, who couldn't be reached Thursday.

In a written statement, Satterberg said police "acted appropriately" and were right to seize items from Martinez because "they reasonably believed that they showed an effort to distribute marijuana in violation of state law."

But the statement also acknowledges that Martinez, who suffered severe neurological damage in a motorcycle accident in 1986, "is authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes," and that the amount of pot seized by police was arguably within the 60-day supply limit the state medical-marijuana law provides.

Seattle police searched Martinez's office on Northeast 50th Street after neighbors complained of a strong odor of pot in the building. After obtaining a search warrant, they carted off the pot and the files, which included detailed medical histories and medical-marijuana prescriptions. They also broke down part of a wall in search of marijuana plants. They didn't find any.

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