PHOENIX (AP) - A state appeals court says a trial judge and a prosecutor were both wrong in taking rigid positions on whether plea agreements must prohibit using marijuana, whether medicinal or not.
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk appealed after Superior Court Judge Cele (suh-LAY’) Hancock deleted a provision against marijuana use from a criminal defendant’s plea agreement.
Polk wants to include the prohibitions in all plea agreements, while Hancock maintains that would improperly tie the judge’s hands.
The Court of Appeals ruled that Hancock was wrong to take a blanket position and that it was appropriate for the one defendant’s plea agreement to prohibit marijuana use.
The court also said Polk’s blanket insistence on including marijuana-use prohibitions doesn’t satisfy the prosecutor’s duty to write plea agreements to fit individual cases’ circumstances.
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