Warren medical marijuana advocate wins small court victory
However, state Attorney General still has more than two years to decide whether formal charges are warranted
A medical marijuana advocate from Warren won a small victory in court Friday, when a Sixth Division District Court judge approved his attorney’s motion to dismiss a marijuana distribution case against him. However, it is only a partial victory as the state Attorney General still has two years to decide whether to file felony charges against him in Rhode Island Superior Court.
Patrick Rimoshytus of Warren was arrested by Rhode Island State Police in February after an undercover state police officer visited a private medical marijuana club he ran in Providence’s Fox Point section. The officer used an expired Rhode Island medical marijuana card to purchase a small amount of the drug, and a subsequent raid conducted by state police netted larger amounts of marijuana and marijuana-laced candy.
Following his arrest, Mr. Rimoshytus learned he could be charged with conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance and multiple counts of possession with intent to deliver between one kilogram (2.2 pounds) and five kilograms (11 pounds) of marijuana.
Friday’s court action was prompted by a petition to dismiss by his attorney, Jason Knight of Barrington. Mr. Knight, who serves as state representative for District 67 (Barrington and Warren) said Friday that in felony cases like Mr. Rimoshytus’s, defendants are not immediately charged in Rhode Island Superior Court, the venue for felony cases. Instead, they are brought to Sixth Division District Court for bail proceedings, and evidence is turned over to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office. There, state attorneys review it and decide whether there is enough evidence to file formal charges in Superior Court.
State law allows motions to dismiss at the District Court level if there has been no action in Superior Court for six months, and Mr. Knight said he filed his motion on those grounds. However, the dismissal does not preclude state attorneys from later deciding to bring charges. The AG has three years to consider whether charges before the Superior Court are warranted, and just over two years remains before the state runs out of time in Mr. Rimoshytus’s case.
Though Mr. Rimoshytus said he still does not know whether the AG will ultimately pursue charges against him, he is glad that the case has been dismissed at the district court level. The dismissal gives him a clean record, allows him to recoup the $2,000 bail he paid at the time of his arrest, and also gives him peace of mind that he will not be arrested as a bail violator if he runs afoul of the law for any reason. However, his patient records are still in the state's possession, and he hopes to petition the court to have them returned.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Mr. Rimoshytus said. “I plan on continuing to be a patient advocate as much as possible. I’d like to get my records back, get this resolved as soon as possible and move on with my life.”
Said Mr. Knight: “He firmly believes in his innocence of the charge and is fully ready to challenge it” if and when the AG’s office decides to bring a case to Superior Court.
