## Facts

- Garden Grove police stopped Felix Kha and seized about one-third of an ounce of marijuana.
- Kha had physician authorization and qualified as a medical-marijuana patient under California’s Compassionate Use Act.
- The prosecution dismissed the marijuana possession charge after confirming Kha’s qualified status.
- After dismissal, Kha sought return of the seized marijuana under California return-of-property procedures.
- The superior court ordered the Garden Grove Police Department to return the marijuana.
- The City refused, asserting federal law prohibited compliance, and petitioned for writ relief to vacate the order.

## Issues

1. Whether the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) preempts or otherwise prohibits a state-court order requiring local police to return marijuana lawfully possessed under California medical-marijuana law.
2. Whether a municipal police department, as a subdivision of the state, must comply with state law requiring return of property deemed lawfully possessed under state law despite contrary federal policy.
3. Whether due process permits the government to retain, after favorable termination of state criminal proceedings, property the state treats as lawfully possessed in the circumstances.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal denied the City’s petition for writ of mandate/prohibition.
- The court left in place the superior court’s order requiring the police to return the seized marijuana to Kha.
- The court held the CSA did not preempt the return order and did not bar state officers from complying with it.
- The court concluded local law enforcement is bound to follow California’s medical-marijuana laws and related return-of-property procedures.
- The court reasoned due process does not permit permanent confiscation of property the state recognizes as lawfully possessed once criminal proceedings terminate favorably to the owner.

## Legal Principles

- California may remove state-law penalties for qualified medical-marijuana possession and provide procedures for return of seized property when state criminal proceedings end favorably to the possessor.
- Federal preemption does not invalidate a state-court order returning medical marijuana to a qualified patient when compliance does not require state officers to enforce federal law or create a meaningful conflict with the CSA’s objectives.
- A governmental subdivision of the state must comply with state-law remedies and procedures, including return-of-property orders, rather than adopting a contrary noncompliance policy based on federal prohibition.
- Due process prohibits the state from retaining property without a lawful basis once the property is not contraband under state law in the circumstances and the state has abandoned prosecution.

## Conclusion

The court required local police to return seized marijuana to a qualified California medical-marijuana patient after dismissal of state charges, holding the CSA did not preempt the return order and that state law and due process required restoration of property the state treats as lawfully possessed.


City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court, 157 Cal. App. 4th 355 (Cal. Ct. App. 2007)