SEATTLE(AP) -- San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum has an
agreement with a prosecutor in his home state of Washington that
could settle his misdemeanor marijuana charge, The Columbian
reported Friday.
The Vancouver, Wash., newspaper said Clark County prosecutors
have reached a deal with a lawyer for the 2008 Cy Young Award
winner that would result in a $250 fine for possessing a
marijuana pipe.
Grant Hansen, a Clark County deputy prosecutor, told the
newspaper his office is willing to dismiss a misdemeanor charge
of possessing 3.3 grams of marijuana.
"We negotiated the case in the manner we do with just about
every first-time marijuana-drug paraphernalia case where the
individual is cooperative with the officer," Hansen told The
Columbian. "We dismissed possession of marijuana and amended the
other charge to buying or selling drug paraphernalia, a Class A
civil infraction."
The agreement still must be approved by a judge. On Thursday, a
spokesperson with the Clark County district attorney's office
told The Associated Press that Judge Darvin Zimmerman has been
assigned the case.
Hansen did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages left
late Friday by The AP.
The prosecutor told The Columbian "it could have been the kid
next door" getting the same treatment. "The fact it's a
celebrity doesn't mean he doesn't get the same deal."
It all stems from a traffic stop after sunrise on Oct. 30 in the
town of Hazel Dell, about four miles north of the Oregon border.
A Washington State Patrol trooper said Lincecum was driving his
2006 Mercedes at 74 mph in a 60 mph zone on Interstate 5. The
motorcycle trooper who pulled over the 25-year-old All-Star
starter smelled marijuana as Lincecum rolled down his car
window.
Washington State Patrol spokesman Steve Schatzel said Thursday
the former University of Washington star and native of the
Seattle suburb of Bellevue immediately complied with a request
to hand over the drug and a marijuana pipe from the car's center
console.
Schatzel said police consider the 3.3 grams a small amount for
personal use, well below the maximum of 40 grams before
possession is classified differently and carries a more severe
penalty.
"It's not really out of the ordinary. It happens every day,"
Schatzel said about the volume of marijuana Lincecum handed
over. "It was about the size of a thumb, the whole thumb."
Lincecum still faces a $122 fine on the speeding citation.
The Giants have said they are aware of the situation but had not
commented as of late Friday night.
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