Report: Prosecutor, attorney for Giants ace Tim Lincecum have agreement on marijuana charge

Associated Press

Last update: November 7, 2009 - 9:15 AM

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SEATTLE - 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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