Several rounds of blessings were made by participants within the circle, who mostly prayed
for Steve's health and for the reunification of the Kubby family. Placer
County employees watched the activity from the courthouse windows with
incredulous half-smiles.

Whispers of astonishment amongst the staff continued as the prayer group
moved inside the courthouse, overwhelming the meager security facilities
and quickly filling the courtroom to capacity. Guards then led in a
grinning Steve Kubby, his orange jumpsuit hanging loosely on his shrinking
frame. Steve was seated at the defense table, where he smiled lovingly at
his family for the remarkably short duration of the court proceedings.

From his high desk on the righthand side of the courtroom, Judge Robert
McElhany cheerfully informed the court that he was prepared to hear
argument on the matter of appropriate medical treatment for Steve Kubby
while in jail. Attorney Bill McPike then made a short speech, stating that
he had spoken to the jail doctor and medical staff, and from these
conversations he had concluded that Mr. Kubby's health had stabilized. As
a result, McPike asked the judge to take the motion "off the calendar" for
the day. Judge McElhany then confirmed the date and time for the
proceedings addressing Steve Kubby's alleged probation violation,
scheduling a pre-trial conference for February 15th at 1pm.

A pause in courtroom activity was then given for the purpose of evacuating
all Kubby supporters. The exodus virtually emptied the courthouse, as
dozens exited to find a flock of newscameras waiting outside the doors.
What followed was an impromptu press conference in which Steve's wife,
Michele Kubby, took center stage.

Having arrived recently from Canada, Michele stood on the courthouse steps
and hugged the supporters who greeted her, then turned her attention to
the seemingly endless line of questioning that reporters had prepared for
her. She spoke with conviction, at first addressing her apparent confusion
and initial disapproval of the tabling of the motion to allow Steve to use
cannabis while in jail. Though she stated her appreciation for the role of
Marinol in stabilizing her husband's health, Michele also strongly
emphasized that medicinal cannabis is the medicine that works best for
him, as well as the therapy that has kept him alive far beyond doctor's
expectations during his battle with adrenal cancer.

With her young daughter standing at her side, Michele spoke emphatically
of the high risk of death for her husband, and accused Placer County of
cruel and unusual punishment by taking a father away from his family for
the last days of his life. Describing drug-related arrests that take men
away from their families in order to serve jail sentences, Michele went on
to declare with outrage, "It's women and children who are the real victims
of the drug war."

As the newscameras focused on Michele's impassioned speech, the man
prosecuting Steve Kubby's case, Deputy District Attorney Chris Cattran,
exited the courthouse and began walking off behind the crowd. A television
reporter intercepted Cattran and initiated an interview, which was
conducted simultaneously with Michele's press conference...that is, until
the critical moment that Michele spotted Cattran. At this point, she
walked with purposeful briskness over to the man who is prosecuting her
husband and interrupted his doubletalk in mid-sentence with rapid-fire
questioning. "Do you remember me?" Michele said with an angry smile, eyes
blazing at Cattran as he attempted to ignore her presence. "Hey! Do you
remember me? I'm the one whose family you tore apart!" The crowd watched,
wide-eyed at the volatility in Michele's voice and the emotion in her
words, as she launched into accusations that the prosecution has caused
great suffering in her family. Cattran eventually slinked away from the
scene as cameras turned to focus once again on Michele, who took the
opportunity to state that she and her husband are lawmakers rather than
criminals. "We always consulted lawyers to make sure that everything we
were doing was fully in line with the law," she insisted.

Michele continued fielding questions until McPike made his appearance
outside the courthouse, at which time she left the crowd to sit on a
folding chair that had been brought by activists. "We don't have guns,"
Michele said as she explained the confrontation to her supporters, some of
whom knelt beside her in solidarity. "We don't fight with guns. We pick up
a pen or we go to the internet, and that's how we fight. We fight with our
words. We fight with our voice. We fight with the truth."

With attention now focused on the defense attorney, reporters were eager
to extract from him the reason he took the proposed motion off of the
calendar. Without answering the questions directly, McPike simply told the
press that the matter could easily be brought back up again if necessary,
but that his client's health was currently stable enough to allow for the
tabling of the motion. Without much insight into the less visible reasons
for taking the motion off of the calendar, many journalists proceeded to
frame the story as one that showcased the effectiveness of Marinol as a
substitute for medicinal cannabis.

A day following the hearing, however, a release on the Kubbys' official
website gives greater depth to the story. It reads, "Steve is not going
after the use of the whole plant instead of Marinol. The reason for this
is because in order to actually receive the whole plant, he would have to
say that the Marinol was not working at all. Since the Marinol is
controlling his Blood Pressure, Steve would have to purger himself in
order to get the whole plant."

A statement given by McPike over the weekend, in addition, adds another
level of explanation to an already richly-nuanced scenario. According to
the defense attorney, simply filing the motion has led to a positive
outcome, which he believes will bear fruit whether or not the motion
itself remains tabled. "I believe that the filing helped get the
settlement offer which we now have," McPike wrote to supporters Saturday.

McPike, however, would not speak further about the details of this
settlement. The defense is asking for Steve to be allowed to serve out his
120-day sentence under house arrest in Marin County. Cattran, however, has
told reporters that he may press for a longer sentence when the court
addresses the matter of Steve's alleged probation violation.

Meanwhile, Steve continues to sit in jail. His next day in court will not
be until February 15th, and he has only enough Marinol to last him for
four more days. According to Michele, the jail medical staff will allow
the pricey drug, but will not provide it. Anyone who can assist with
coordinating proper medicine and treatment for Steve is urged to contact
jeremy@freecanadianparty.org as soon as possible.