The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in favor of an Encinitas woman who was arrested in Arizona for having medical marijuana in her car.
In 2011, Valerie Okun and her husband Philip stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Yuma County, Ariz. The agent confiscated Valerie’s medical marijuana, even though she had authorization from the state of California to have it. Arizona law allows people with authorizations from other states to have medical marijuana in Arizona.
The couple was detained, and Valerie was charged with marijuana possession crimes. The charges were later dropped, but the Yuma County sheriff refused to return the marijuana.
After a federal court told the sheriff to give back the drugs, the sheriff appealed to the Arizona State Supreme Court. After losing that appeal, the sheriff appealed again, this time to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to overturn the previous court rulings. The justices' order was issued without comment.
Valerie declined NBC 7’s request for an on-camera interview, but says she is happy with the outcome.
Her husband Philip told NBC 7 Valerie had roughly three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana and her authorization papers when they were stopped.
