In an unusually contentious ruling (pdf) Monday, California appellate court Judges Paul Haerle and J. Anthony Kline got in each other’s faces about whether a judge can order a criminal defendant to stop using medicinal marijuana while on probation when the underlying crime has nothing to do with pot use. Kline says you can’t. Haerle says you can, and — unfortunately for Kline — Haerle was backed in the 2-1 ruling by Justice James Richman.
The opinion focused on Daryl Moret Jr., who pleaded no contest to possession of a concealed firearm on the condition he abstain from using marijuana, which he claimed a doctor had recommended for chronic migraine headaches.
