The lawsuit brought by Senoia resident Don Rehman against the Senoia City Council over his interpretation of a city ordinance dealing with misdemeanor possession of marijuana was dismissed in May by Coweta County Superior Court Judge Dennis Blackmon. But Rehman will have another day in court when his case is appealed to the Ga. Supreme Court in the fall.
Rehman said his appeal has been accepted by the Ga. Supreme Court and is on the court’s calendar for October, adding that he has been permitted to include nearly a dozen additional pages in his appeal documents.
Rehman in the March 15 court filing in Coweta County Superior Court said the city ordinance dealing with misdemeanor amounts of marijuana, in quantities less than one ounce, essentially mandates that males are required to be in possession of more than an ounce of marijuana to be considered law abiding citizens. Possession of less than an ounce is handled through the local court as a misdemeanor while possession of more than an ounce is a felony under state law.
Rehman contended that the wording of the ordinance essentially mandates that all males within the city limits must have in their possession one ounce or more of marijuana. Obeying the ordinance as written would make criminals out of law abiding citizens, the suit said.
Judge Blackmon in his full dismissal of the lawsuit was adamant in his disagreement with Rehman’s position.
“Are you telling me that I am here and you’ve got me here, and you’ve got all these people here to explain to you what the Senoia ordinance means when it says you can’t possess less than an ounce of marijuana? Are you seriously telling me that that’s why I am here listening to this case?” Blackmon asked.
“Let me tell you something, you have wasted this court’s time,” Blackmon continued. “You have wasted all these people’s time. I do not know what possessed you to come into this court with something this ridiculous. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever had in court, ever.”
Rehman maintained that his case before Judge Blackmon should have been decided differently, adding that he would appeal the decision to the Ga. Supreme Court.
“I respectfully believe that (Judge Blackmon) made an error by dismissing my civil action; and (Blackmon’s) determination of the grounds for dismissal were not in consonance with a June 8, 2009 Supreme Court of Georgia decision on petition for mandamus matters, which the court had in hand when it made its ruling on May 29, 2013,” Rehman said after the dismissal.
