WOODLAND — A retired UC Davis fire captain who was the subject of a controversial 2016 marijuana court case won early release from probation and saw his charges expunged Monday after Yolo County prosecutors declined to oppose both matters in court.
“Justice is finally served,” Paul Fullerton said, hugging several of his supporters following a brief hearing before Yolo Superior Court Judge David Reed. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe it.”
Reed’s ruling shortens Fullerton’s probation period by more than a year, which Fullerton said will allow him to resume teaching training courses in firefighting techniques.
His lawyers further requested the termination “on the grounds that the ends of justice will be served … in that Mr. Fullerton has shown good conduct and reform and has complied with all the terms of his probation,” their written motion said.
Although the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office at first opposed that bid, prosecutor Ryan Couzens — after recapping the initial allegations in the case including charges of unlawful marijuana sales — reversed course during Monday’s proceeding.
“I would note that Mr. Fullerton had no prior criminal record and hasn’t gained any criminal record since this, and so the people will submit without opposition to the motion,” Couzens said in court.
Couzens also noted that his office, which recently announced clearing more than 700 marijuana-related convictions in Yolo County, did not include Fullerton’s because “we were relying on a list from the Department of Justice, and Mr. Fullerton was not on that list.”
Because Fullerton could not petition to have his case expunged until his probation period ended, his defense attorney Ashley Bargenquast made that request verbally Monday following Reed’s ruling on the probation matter.
“The people would submit without opposition,” Couzens said as a visibly stunned Fullerton stood nearby.
A UCD firefighter for 20 years, Fullerton began using medical marijuana and opened his Woodland hydroponics business, Lil’ Shop of Growers, following an on-the-job spinal injury at UCD that led to his retirement. The shop sells plant-growing products and equipment, with an emphasis on marijuana grows.
Both Fullerton and his wife Maricel once faced felony drug sales, child endangerment and weapon-related charges following Feb. 18, 2016, raids on their home and business by the now-defunct Yolo County Narcotic Enforcement Team.
Fullerton ultimately pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts of possession and sales of marijuana in November 2017 in exchange for the dismissal of the remaining charges and his wife’s case in full. He was sentenced to three years of formal, supervised probation.
In an spring 2018 interview, Fullerton called YONET’s investigation of him and the subsequent DA prosecution a “witch hunt,” saying law enforcement had unfairly and overzealously targeted him, and that other local medical marijuana users were undergoing similar ordeals.
Both agencies defended their conduct in the case, which accused Fullerton of unlawfully selling marijuana out of his business for profit on multiple occasions, including an alleged $300 transaction with an undercover YONET officer. Fullerton also stood accused of keeping weapons and marijuana within reach of his young child, which he denied.
YONET at the time was overseen by the Davis Police Department.
“If he did this today it would be a much lesser crime,” Deputy Police Chief Paul Doroshov told The Enterprise in 2018, noting that the November 2016 passage of Prop. 64, which legalized adult recreational marijuana use, allows commercial cannabis sales by those who obtain a state-issued permit. It also reduced the Fullertons’ pending drug charges from felonies to misdemeanors.
YONET has since morphed into another type of multi-agency team, the Yolo County Crime Task Force, which Doroshov said reflects a regional mission to target major crimes involving criminal organizations, illegal weapons, stolen property and human trafficking.
“It’s not efficient for us to have these in-depth operations in order to enforce a misdemeanor law,” Doroshov said earlier this month. “We’re getting away from the drug war.”
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene