Misdemeanor pot charge filed against GU’s Davis

Paperwork charging Gonzaga basketball player Theo Davis with misdemeanor possession of marijuana was signed Thursday by Cheney City Prosecutor Julie McKay.

However, it’s unlikely that Davis, a 21-year-old freshman from Brampton, Ontario, will face even the minimum penalty of 24 hours in jail and a $250 fine that comes with a conviction on the charge, she said.

Davis, who is not playing this year because of a shoulder injury, “has not received his ticket yet, but my office has opted to charge him with possession of controlled substance marijuana, which is a misdemeanor,” McKay said.

The prosecutor said she deals with a lot of college students in Cheney, which is home to Eastern Washington University.

“If they are convicted of a drug offense, they lose their eligibility for financial aid,” McKay said. “It’s beyond rare that someone with a first-time offense enters a guilty plea on this as charged.”

She added that the marijuana possession charge could be amended to some lesser crime.

Davis’ drug charge stems from a traffic stop on Feb. 9 when fellow teammate Josh Heytvelt, 20, was pulled over after Cheney Police Officer David Bailey saw a gold 2006 Chevy TrailBlazer driving with no taillights near the intersection of First Street and Simpson Parkway. Police records indicate the taillights were out because Heytvelt had not turned on his headlights.

After the traffic stop, two EWU police officers arrived. One of those officers walked to the rear of Heytvelt’s vehicle and saw a bag of mushrooms protruding from a backpack located in the cargo area, according to court records.

When Bailey asked who owned the mushrooms, which tests later revealed were the illegal hallucinogenic type, Heytvelt denied any knowledge of them.

Bailey then asked Heytvelt whether he knew who owned the “Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge” backpack containing the mushrooms, and Heytvelt “told me he believed it belonged to a friend of his who had borrowed his vehicle for a couple of days.”

Heytvelt also told a Washington State Patrol trooper that he had a friend who grew the mushrooms in his home. But records do not indicate whether Heytvelt ever identified that friend.

EWU police Officer Christopher McMurtrey said he responded to the traffic stop and spoke to Davis, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the TrailBlazer.

“Davis began making statements to me,” McMurtrey wrote in his report. “He admitted to smoking marijuana at a party and said he had just one ‘bong hit.’ I told him that one bong hit is quite a bit, and he then admitted to also smoking a ‘blunt.’ ”

McMurtrey then asked Davis if he had any marijuana in his possession, and he replied, ” ‘Yes.’ I asked him where it was and he said it was in his upper left jacket pocket next to his lighter,” the officer wrote. McMurtrey then found the partial cigarette that contained 0.2 grams of marijuana.

Officers found about 33 grams – just more than an ounce – of mushrooms in the backpack in Heytvelt’s SUV. Any amount of those drugs constitutes felony possession.

McKay said Davis is expected to have an arraignment date in about two weeks. However, if he has an attorney, he may not be required to appear.

Heytvelt is scheduled to appear on March 12 for his arraignment date for felony possession of a controlled substance. His attorney, Dennis Thompson, could not be reached late Thursday for comment.

If convicted, Heytvelt faces a maximum prison sentence of five years and a $10,000 fine. But Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor John Grasso said a typical sentence for a first-time drug offender is six months or less.

The sophomore also could be referred to drug court or a structured diversion program that would dismiss the charge after a year, Grasso said.