P. v. Williams
Based on evidence that defendant Edward Lemarr Jewell Williams drove from Arizona to California with less than an ounce of marijuana, a jury found him guilty of (among other things) “import[ing]” marijuana, in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11360, subdivision (a) (section 11360(a)).
Defendant contends that “import,” as used in section 11360(a), means to bring in across a national border, not merely a state border. As a fallback argument, he contends that it means that the marijuana must have originated outside California — i.e., that taking marijuana from California into Arizona and then back into California again would not constitute “import[ing]” marijuana.
We disagree. Applying standard principles of statutory construction, we conclude that, if you bring marijuana into California, you are “import[ing]” marijuana, no matter where you may be coming from and no matter where the marijuana ultimately may have come from. Accordingly, we will affirm.
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