In Florida, a lawyer ruined the life of a couple by lying about the legality of marijuana use

A Florida lawyer who told his clients that they can grow hemp legally should now, by court order, pay them almost $ 370 000 compensation after they were arrested.

Фото: Depositphotos

The decision was made about three years after the couple sued the lawyer for poor legal advice.

On January 18, Ian Christensen was stripped of his legal profession after it became known that he charged people about $ 800 for producing a “patient identification card” and other services that, he said, would prevent his clients from being arrested for growing or using marijuana . He provided these services even before the state legalized medical marijuana.

The Florida Supreme Court called his actions "incompetence and extremely serious harm to customers."

Scott and Marsha Jandell took advantage of Christensen's advice and services and began to grow marijuana, as a result, in February 2015, a special forces group broke into the couple’s house, they were arrested. At the same time, their lawyer then told the couple that "they have nothing to worry about," if only they use marijuana for medical purposes.

On the subject: Personal experience: how does medical cannabis work on your body?

“If a patient can prove to a law enforcement officer that cannabis is the safest medicine for their treatment, they are not subject to arrest,” the lawyer's website states.

According to data obtained by the Florida Supreme Court, Christensen for years took money from his clients for providing legal advice on marijuana issues, which, in fact, were an incorrect interpretation of the law. This continued until the resolution of medical marijuana in Florida in 2016.

He led a legal healthcare business and charged people $ 799 for a package deal that included a doctor’s visit, legal services, documents, and patient ID.

The Yandell family sued the former lawyer in 2016 in the year 29, and on July 370 the court ordered him to pay a couple of almost $ 000 25 for the loss of wages in connection with their arrest. Marsha Yandell lost her nurse license, despite having worked in this area for 15 years, and Scott lost the position of engineer, to whom he gave XNUMX years of his life.

Photo: St Johns County Jail

"I think it's obvious to most people that when they do bad things, there are consequences," said Andrew Bonderud, Yandell's attorney in the lawsuit.

“When you are a lawyer, you are held to a higher standard. Lawyers must be very careful when they advise clients,” he added.

The medical cards Christensen gave to his clients were called “official legal certificates”, and he even gave some of them “marijuana growing markings,” which, he said, should have been legal evidence that their home was used to grow medical marijuana

In January 2015, the police came to the Yandell’s house after an anonymous user called 911 and said that there was a “marijuana cultivation marking” near the couple’s residence. After this incident, the couple asked Christensen if they should destroy hemp plants, but he answered them that this was not necessary and that they were not in danger.

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A month later, a special forces group broke into the Yandell’s house, arresting the couple on charges of possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling, manufacturing, owning a place or building for illicit trafficking or manufacture of a narcotic substance. Their homeowner also sued them in excess of $ 25 000 for lost rent and damage to the rented house during the special forces raid.

After the arrest, the couple stopped working with Christensen, hired a new lawyer and pleaded guilty, escaping with a three-year probationary period, a fine of $ 15 000 and 100 hours of community service.

Christensen explained his actions by saying that he was "inexperienced, young and naive in the advice he gave, and in the positions that he held in relation to persons already associated with marijuana." In 2015, he stopped practicing law and no longer lives in Florida.

“It seems to me that he is not going to pay anything voluntarily, so we will have to look for assets or look for sources of income,” said the lawyer for the injured couple.

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