Summary
The Supreme Court of Montana affirmed Tristeana Johnson's conviction for criminal possession of marijuana. The court held that Montana's Medical Marijuana Act protected possession only when the marijuana was obtained from the patient's registered caregiver, and that sufficient evidence supported the conviction.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the District Court erred in denying Johnson's motion to dismiss the criminal-possession charge because she possessed less than one ounce of marijuana and held a Montana Medical Marijuana Card.
- Whether sufficient evidence supported Johnson's conviction for criminal possession of marijuana.
Holdings
- The Montana Medical Marijuana Act did not shield Johnson from prosecution because the statutory protection for a qualifying patient did not authorize possession of marijuana obtained from someone other than the patient's registered caregiver. The District Court therefore correctly denied the motion to dismiss.
- Sufficient evidence supported Johnson's conviction because the State proved that she possessed marijuana, a dangerous drug, and that the Medical Marijuana Act did not shield her from prosecution.
Key quotations
“The existence of a statutory affirmative defense, by itself, cannot preclude a conviction.” (277 P.3d at 1237)
“Viewing the evidence in this case in a light most favorable to the prosecution as we are constrained to do, we conclude that any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” (277 P.3d at 1238)
Factual background
A highway patrol trooper stopped Johnson after observing her vehicle drift across the center line several times. The trooper smelled marijuana, and Johnson admitted smoking marijuana and produced a baggie containing less than one ounce of marijuana and a glass pipe. Johnson had a Montana Medical Marijuana Card, and her stepfather was her registered caregiver, but he told the trooper that he had not supplied the marijuana because his grow operation was not operational. Johnson was convicted of misdemeanor criminal possession of marijuana.
Procedural history
Johnson was convicted in Park County Justice Court on five charges and appealed de novo to the Sixth Judicial District Court. The District Court denied her motion to dismiss the marijuana-possession charge, acquitted her of the underage intoxicating-substance and driving-under-the-influence charges, convicted her of marijuana possession, open-container, and insurance violations, and imposed fines and a vehicle-registration suspension. Johnson appealed the marijuana-possession ruling and conviction to the Montana Supreme Court.