New Dist. Attorney ready to ‘weed out the weed cases’

By TIFFANY REVELLE The Daily Journal
Incoming District Attorney C. David Eyster plans to weed out the weed cases clogging the court system, among other changes he has in mind for his four-year term.
Eyster won the race against incumbent Meredith Lintott with 53 percent of the county’s vote in November, and will be sworn in as Mendocino County District Attorney at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, in Room E of the Mendocino County Superior Courthouse.
Eyster calls the District Attorney’s job “the gatekeeper for the criminal justice system,” and as a first order of business, he plans to review all open cases and dismiss any he thinks should not be in the court system.
“I believe there are cases in the (district attorney’s) office that shouldn’t be there,” he said. “It makes no sense to allow cases to go through the system that should never have passed the gate to begin with.”
Currently, the District Attorney’s Office pushes too many cases into the court system that are later dismissed, he says, especially marijuana cases.
He said there are marijuana farmers who are trying to comply with the law, some who don’t know how to comply.
In cases where growers appear to be trying to comply, according to Eyster, a better practice than the one currently used is to give the growers a deadline by which to “get legal” and refer them to the Sheriff’s Office, which sells zip ties and issues permits for gardens that meet the state’s and the county’s guidelines.
“I’m compassionate and tolerant of people who are trying to comply with the law,” said Eyster, who is currently a Ukiah defense attorney.
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