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Well, tomorrow on t.v. is the Lifetime made-for-T.V. movie Amanda Knox, Murder on Trial in Italy. The movie seems like it takes a lot of artistic license as it tells the story of the arrest and trial of Amanda Knox.  I have decided that I will watch the movie even though it apparently depicts Amanda Knox brandishing a knife, a notion largely inconsistent with the evidence now on appeal. The movie seems like it tries to please both sides in the case, but both the Knox family and the family of Meredith Kercher despise the film so far. I will watch largely to see the depiction of Giuliano Mignini, the Italian “prosecutor” who is such a disgrace to the profession that it is hard to imagine how Lifetime will portray him in a “fair and balanced” way.  I would hope the movie drums up more interest in Amanda Knox’s case on the part of the American public, but who knows, maybe that is too much to hope for. I guess I am going to keep an open mind when I watch the movie. I am sure that Lifetime will at least approach the case with better intentions that the British press has.  Let me know what you think of the movie. No spoilers though because I will be watching the movie on Pacific time.

Since you have the T.V. on this week, you may also want to check out the new T.V. show The Chicago Code. I watched the pilot free on iTunes, but the show is also available to watch online free at the Fox.com site. I downloaded the show two weeks ago and gave up on it after the first 5 minutes after a corny chase scene.  I was lured back to it after Chicago blogger Mark Draughn kept talking about it.  The show stars Jason Clarke as the cop going after corrupt politicians. (In the past, he played the corrupt politician subject to a police investigation in Brotherhood.)  As a criminal defense lawyer, I usually don’t watch a lot of crime dramas on T.V.  I guess by 5 p.m., I have usually had my fill of that sort of thing. However, this show looks pretty good. Also, I think it is important for lawyers to have some familiarity with this genre because these shows really effect the way jurors look at cases.   On T.V. crime dramas the police are usually a lot rougher physically on suspects than real life, and don’t really stop interrogations just because the suspect has invoked his right to remain silent or his right to a lawyer.  The police on T.V. usually spend more time on investigations, whereas in my practice police hardly ever take the time to even try to dust for fingerprinting.

To see Mark Draughn’s opinions on the show, see here and here. Take the time to see his site. This guy has been a snarky blogger since before I even had an email address.

As the rest of us readied ourselves for holiday plans and travel, newly elected officials prepared to take office in their new positions.

And with little fanfare, Deputy Prosecutor Tom Brown in Ferry County was sworn in today to replace Republic lawyer Lynda Eaton as Ferry County District Court Judge. Lynda Eaton was elected in 1994 in a contested election against then judge Norman Sauer. Norman Sauer was the first judge I practiced law in front of when I was 24-year-old Rule 9 intern in 1994. In that year, Lynda Eaton was an assistant public defender working for Rebecca Baker. In more recent years, Lynda Eaton ran a title company called Ferry County Professional Services.

Tom Brown, as the winner in this fall’s election, replaced Lynda Eaton and was sworn in also as Superior Court commissioner today. Tom Brown is a 2004 University of Oregon Law School graduate.

He also served in the Marine Corp and also attended the University of Portland. As a prosecutor he typically handled the felony caseload. In District Court, he will preside over misdemeanor offenses, name changes, small claims, and first-appearances on felony arrests. His court commissioner work could include assisting the Superior Court judges on divorces, probates, and restrain order petitions.

I read in the Spokesman-Review last week that the Washington State Department of Revenue sent notices to medical marijuana dispensaries demanding collection of retail sales tax on marijuana sold. This letter took the position that the sale of medical marijuana does not fall within the sales tax exception for prescription drugs. But is this interpretation of the law really correct? Many dispensaries have begun collecting and paying sales tax to the Department of Revenue as a way of seeking legitimacy. However, isn’t paying the tax conceding that “medical marijuana” is somehow of lesser medical value than other prescription drugs?

Medical marijuana cannot be “prescribed” under federal law, but it is important to remember that the definition of “prescription drug” for purposes of Department of Revenue (DOR) regulations is different. Let’s take a look at the DOR code on this subject. Section 1 of RCW 82.08.0281 clearly states retail sales tax “shall not apply to sales of drugs for human use dispensed or to be dispensed to patients, pursuant to a prescription.” Section 4 of RCW 82.08.0281 clearly states: “‘Prescription’ means an order, formula, or recipe issued in any form of oral, written, electronic, or other means of transmission by a duly licensed practitioner authorized by the laws of this state to prescribe.” How exactly does a doctor’s medical authorization for marijuana not fall under this definition? (See sample of authorization form.) Courts have ruled that the DOR is not to use a hyper-technical definition of “prescribed.” In the case Deaconess Medical Center v. DOR, 58 Wn. App. 783 (1990) the Washington Court of Appeals used the common dictionary definition of “prescribed” from Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1792 (1966). The Webster’s dictionary definition of “prescribed” means “to designate or order the use of as a remedy.” Webster’s uses the term broadly, and provides the term in the following example sentence: “The doctor prescribed three months of physical therapy for my leg injury.” Simply put these dispensaries are the victim of a Department of Revenue shake down.

Let’s remember that medical marijuana dispensaries operate in a gray area of the law. The Washington voters legalized medical marijuana possession, but never provided for a clear legal mechanism for sick patients to obtain the drug. Not every sick cancer patient is able to tend to their own marijuana garden. Consequently patient cooperatives have sprung up, often acting in concert with activists. Most police agencies have held off raiding these dispensaries, but we only have to read yesterday’s Inlander article to see that the police are merely biding their time before further raids continue in Spokane. The truth is that the dispensaries are scared, and no dispensary is likely willing to refuse pay these bogus sales taxes to the Department of Revenue. The attorneys general that work with DOR can simply make a call to the criminal division of the Attorney General’s office to push for prosecution of dispensaries unwilling to pay these “taxes.” No dispensary wants to be the one to stand out and risk criminal charges. To put it another way, the uncertainty in the law makes these dispensaries susceptible to a form of blackmail. Revenue projections calculated by the The Inlander amounted to millions of dollars Olympia is getting from these patient cooperatives. This “sales tax” in turn will be passed on sick patients who can scarcely afford to pay more for their medicine.

You have to wonder also about the legality of collecting sales tax for an activity that is still in violation of federal law. Generally speaking, just because an activity is illegal does not mean that it is tax exempt. However, in the case of Marchetti v. United States (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain regulations that required the reporting and tracking of the activity for revenue purposes amounted to a violation of the right against self-incrimination.

Why is Washington trying to impose a sales tax on medical marijuana dispensaries when the State of California does not? The dispensaries in California seems to be a little more confident that they will not be raided, and enjoy more protection under their State law. They would be more willing to fight such a state action in my opinion. In Washington, Mike Gowrylow, a spokesperson for the Department of Revenue, explained “right now, every buck counts”. Quite simply the State is hungry for revenue from all sources. In my experience as an attorney who has defended clients from the Department of Revenue, the State often seems to come up with “creative” ways to apply taxes during economic downturns. One time I represented a client who received an assessment for taxes under questionable circumstances. We indicated out intention to fight it and appealed. About 6 months through the process, the Department just dropped the issue, apparently moving on to easier targets.

What do you think about this subject? Should these dispensaries have to pay sales tax? Do you think that all the dispensaries in Spokane will comply? Will these tax payments help legitimize these co-ops? Will more dispensaries be raided as the Spokane police have threatened?

A lawyer friend of mine from L.A. recently came to Spokane to play a cameo role in the new movie “Knights of Badassdom” by director Joe Lynch.  ”Knights of Badassdom” is the story of a bunch of Live Action Role Players (LARPers) who begin one of their games in the forest. One player apparently casts a spell and inadvertently summons a real demon, that the group must battle.  To the legal world, Larry Zerner is a Los Angeles copyright lawyer. To the world of film buffs Larry Zerner is “Shelly”, a character from the Friday the 13th Movie. In the movie, Shelly brings a hockey mask to scare his friends. Jason gets ahold of the mask, and thus begins the killing spree.  We have never looked at a hockey mask the same since.  I wasn’t even aware that “Knights of Badassdom” was being filmed in Spokane, but I looked back, and sure enough this was covered in the Spokesman-Review.    I look forward to seeing this movie.  The way I understand it, the film is set in New Jersey, but is filmed in the woods near Spokane.  So we will have to see how that works.  Besides Larry Zerner, whose role is a cameo, the film features actor Ryan Kwanton (who played Jason Stackhouse in “Trueblood”), and actress Summer Glau (from the TV series “Firefly”).  Larry Zerner is now an entertainment lawyer in Hollywood.  In 2005, Zerner Larry represented  a writer in a copyright infringement lawsuit against HBO over the television show “Carnivale”.  Also in 2005, Zerner represented the original homeowners in a lawsuit over the remake of  the movie “The Amityville Horror”.

There isn’t a trailer yet of the movie “Knights of Badassdom” because it is still in production.  Here is a link to the trailer of “Friday the 13th (Part 3).

O.k. it is not the most scientific of studies, but my new Facebook “quiz” went live last night asking people if them “What Felony Will You Commit in Your Life Time?  Check out the quiz.  It is really just a prototype to test drive this whole quiz thing.  I hope to improve it with more crime categories, and with the formulation of intelligent screening questions.

I always like to hear what someone has to say when they are leaving a job.  Leaving a job definitely allows people to be pretty candid about their experience. When I stepped down from my position as the GMA lawyer for Ferry County, I took the opportunity to criticize the groups Riparian Owners of Ferry County and the Stevens County Farm Bureau for their frivolous suits against Ferry County.  See post. Well this week was Michael Haas’ turn to tell us what he thinks.  The Omak-Chronicle reporter Al Camp interviewed Haas about his departure and his planned move back to Port Townsend.  At first the article explained that he was leaving for family reasons, and then Haas went on to lavish compliments on many of the court house staff. He is quoted as saying:  ”Overall, your judicial system works well. Your judges are thoughtful, respectful and take their jobs seriously… The same is true for your prosecutor’s office and the county commissioners.”  Just when I was getting ready to think this was a fluff piece that Al Camp wrote, I saw what Haas had to say about law enforcement in Okanogan County.  ”…[T]he overall quality of investigations in Okanogan County is abysmal.”   Al Camp explains that Haas said that part of the problem is all the small police departments, though he said the sheriff’s office left much to be desired as well.  Haas questioned the decision of every municipality to set up their own police force, and added that the police could benefit by better and regular training.

So what sort of letters to the editor is this article going to provoke?   I guess we will see when the new paper comes out tomorrow.  Though Haas would certainly know better than me about Okanogan, I am not sure Okanogan police investigations are really that much worse than other rural areas.    In all rural areas, it seems like unproductive officers are allowed to stay on working because it is too hard to get rid of them.  Then you have some inexperienced officers who are totally gung-ho, but really don’t know what they are doing and don’t have the patience to listen and learn from the prosecutors.  A lot of the really good cops end up getting lured away by bigger departments that can afford to pay more.  When I used to work as a prosecutor, the police definitely used to drive me crazy.  Some of the police I worked with often turned in lackluster work, but would expect superhuman results from me as a prosecutor.

Although I didn’t get to know him real well, I always liked Michael Haas.  He knew a lot of about the law, kept up-to-date with new changes in the law, and was always pretty collegial.  I blogged about case he was involved in when he first came to town.  See post.

What do you think?  Is Haas right that there is room for improvement in Okanogan County law enforcement?  Is he simply saying what others are too timid to mention?  In the article Haas mentions that more funding should be spent on drug recovery programs than drug enforcement?  What do you think of that?

I notified Ferry County recently of my intention to give up the legal contract for GMA (Growth Management Act). I have defended Ferry County from GMA appeals for 12 years. For five of those years, I was the elected prosecutor. When I did not run for re-election in 2002, the county commissioners kept me on for a “temporary basis” that has stretched on to today. The work has been exciting, and was constantly changing. I worked with eight different county commissioners. I watched each one learn a great deal about the complex Growth Management Act, and watched their outlook on the law change as the law itself changed. When I first started representing the county, a lawyer on the coast told me that there was no such thing as a GMA expert. The law was too new, and everyone, including the Growth Management Hearings Board was still learning as they went.

I decided to give up the contract this year because I got too busy with my criminal work. I have had three homicide jury trials this year already, and have one more to go. These homicide cases obviously take a lot of time. Also, another reason I gave the work up was some of the people on the planning commission that I enjoyed working with have moved on.

My last day will be August 31st. My only hesitancy in leaving is my concern about the defense of the county from new threats that have emerged in the last year. The groups Riparian Owners of Ferry County and the Stevens County Farm Bureau have both filed recent appeals or petitions against Ferry County. The cases were soundly rejected by the GMA Board, and no appeals to court followed. But further appeals from the Riparian Owners of Ferry County and the Stevens County Farm Bureau would mean a considerable increase in defense costs on top of what is expended to defend the county from Futurewise and the Concerned Friends of Ferry County.

I may still do some GMA work for private clients from time to time. Since I have been in private practice, I have on occasion done GMA work in other counties. I represented private landowners and farmers in GMA appeals in Stevens County against a city government. Additionally, I have done some consulting work to private parties in Okanogan County. We will see what the future holds.

I blogged last month about Northwest Justice, and their Tenants Rights class in Colville.  See post. Now the class is coming to Republic, WA.  You need to sign up in advance, and the class is 9 to 12 at the Northern Inn Conference Room on July 23rd.  I didn’t attend the class in Colville, but I would imagine the class would help educate tenants about their rights on such matters as landlord entry for inspections, a tenants options when a landlord delays repairs, and what to do when you are behind on rent, what your rights are when facing eviction, and what to do when a landlord doesn’t return your deposit.   The class is a good public service because a lot of attorneys (me included) do not handle landlord-tenant matters.  Another good resource is here.

A couple of years ago, the state Access to Justice Board tried to increase the presence of pro bono legal services in the rural parts of the State.   The Northwest Justice Project opened four new offices across the state, including an office in Colville.   The office is at 132 W 1st Avenue where the barber shop used to be.  It is right next door to Cafe 103.   The Northwest Justice Project (NJP) is a not-for-profit statewide organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income people.  For you Facebook junkies, the NJP just started a site right here.  It is low on content and friends, but was just started last week.  What does NJP offer?  Well, they are having a class in Colville on your rights as a tenant.  I don’t do eviction cases, so I was glad to post their flyer in my lobby.  The class will be taught by NJP lawyer Kerry Summers and one other lawyer whose name escapes me.  If you live in Ferry or Pend Oreille County, you don’t have to drive to Colville.  There will be classes coming to Republic and to Newport too I believe.

I am on the road for court a lot, and I am too cheap to by a AT&T wireless internet card for my MacBook.

So that means I am constantly looking for a coffee shop with  good Wi-Fi signal.  And they are harder to find then you might think.  So I figured I would start an on-line list.  Please email me or comment if you know of others.  I am only interested in coffee shops with free wi-fi in the 509 area code.  Urbanspoon.com has tried to catalog the free Wi-Fi coffee shops here, but tons of good shops are missing.  You will note that that site has a place where you can nominate othersites for inclusion, but they have not added any of my suggestions, and it has been 6 weeks.

In Colville, Washington, check out Cafe 103 – This place is in Colville on Main Street, 103 North Main in fact.  Check out their Facebook page here.   Cafe 103 has good free high-speed wi-fi, and good coffee, and a restaurant.  I have only had a sandwich there one.  Also check out Fairy Tale Bakery – This place doesn’t have a big web presence, but their Merchant Circle page is here.  They have free wi-fi, and good coffee and food, and maybe more pastries then Cafe 103.  Since they are just 4 or 5 blocks from Cafe 103, the Fairy Tale Bakery is probably their main competitor.  I don’t know which is better, but I know the Fairy Tale bakery is closed on Sundays and Mondays.  They are at 576 North Wynne, and it is one block North of Safeway.

In Chewelah, check out the Cougar Bakery, which just opened up where Treffz used to be.  In fact, the Treffz sign is still up.  I just got a coffee there Sunday, but didn’t try their food.  But its got Wi-Fi and is just one or two blocks off of HWY 395, so I am definitely putting them on this list.  They are at 209 East Main St.   You gotta love their minimalist web presence, here. UPDATE FROM 11/27/10: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED.  They still hadn’t removed the Trefz sign that the previous owners had left.  I hope something new moves in there, or maybe Chewelah will be just another town with a bunch of “for rent” signs in every store front.  Is there another wi-fi coffee shop in Chewelah that doesn’t suck? Let me know.

In Spokane, check out Madeleine’s -  I went to this place for breakfast two days in a row last weekend.  It is at the corner of Main and Wall in downtown Spokane.  Parking can be a pain.

In Omak, check out The Corner Bistro at 19 E. Apple Avenue.  It is basically right behind the Chinese Restaurant on the main drag.  I think it is called China Star or something like that.  I lived in Omak for 3 weeks last month, and ate at this place lots.  Good Wi-Fi.

In Ephrata, check out the Rock Creek Ice Cream shop on 26 Basin Street NW which is pretty much the main drag in town.  It is owned by the Blue Flame Restaurant next door and they have free wi-fi.  This place just opened up recently.  The ice cream shop also serves espresso.  Nice place.   The nice folks who run the place have heavy accents, so when you ask for the wi-fi password, you may want them to write it down for you.

What am I missing?  Are there any in Kettle Falls, Addy, Soap Lake, Tonasket (actually i just thought of one I can add later), Deer Park?  Let me know.  I won’t do new posts, I will just add this list.  The criteria for listing is that they must have a free, good Wi-Fi signal.  It is o.k. if you have to get their password.  All the nieghbor kids don’t need to be mooching the signal 24/7.  I don’t really want to list restaurants per se, because you need to be able to just buy a 2 dollar coffee and sit their for 90 minutes without feeling out of place.  And the places can’t suck, for whatever reason.