The Court of Appeals in Arizona State has ruled that some people who have convictions for selling marijuana can apply to have those convictions expunged. This ruling comes after a man who had been convicted in 2014 for possessing marijuana with an intention to sell it sought the Appeals Court’s opinion regarding a lower court’s decision to deny his request for expungement.
It should be remembered that in 2020, voters in Arizona approved a recreational cannabis legalization law. This law also had provisions for expungement of criminal records regarding marijuana crimes that were no longer crimes under Prop 207. For example, people who were found guilty of possessing cannabis in amounts that were now legal could apply to have those criminal records expunged.
When that legalization law took effect, the Attorney’s Office in Maricopa County launched an application on behalf of a man convicted on a charge of possessing marijuana with intent to sell it. However, the court denied the request, arguing that the law didn’t include individuals whose convictions were related to selling or the intent to sell marijuana. The attorney’s office appealed this ruling, and the appeals court agreed with the petitioners who were acting on behalf of the man in need of relief from that charge on his criminal record.
Brian Furuya, the judge who delivered the appeals court ruling on behalf of a panel of three judges, asserted that the crime of transporting marijuana now qualifies for expungement and that since 1987, transporting cannabis for one’s own use hasn’t been a crime in Arizona. For that reason, the court was of the view that the voter measure, which was passed during the 2020 polls, must have referred to marijuana transportation for sales purposes since transportation for one’s own use has been legal for decades.
Martin Hutchins, who spearheaded the legal efforts on behalf of the ex-convict, welcomed this ruling. He said that the practice was that anyone found in possession of cannabis would be assumed to have the intention of selling it, and so they would also face marijuana sales charges once arrested and arraigned before court. Hutchins felt that those convicted on marijuana sales charges after being found with small amounts of the drug weren’t necessarily drug dealers.
However, not everyone is thrilled about this ruling. For example, the advisory council for the prosecuting attorneys in Arizona tendered a brief to the appeals court stating that the law under which recreational cannabis became legal was unequivocal in excluding cannabis sales convictions from the expungement provisions. Court didn’t agree with this opinion.
As more of these vestiges of marijuana prohibition are eliminated, a thriving industry that allows many ancillary companies such as Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) to deepen their reach in different markets.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ACTX
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