FIRST DEFENSE WITNESS CALLED AT KUBBY TRAIL

Jurors in the trial of medical-marijuana advocate Steve and Michele Kubby
heard about the technical aspects of marijuana cultivation Tuesday as the
first day of defense testimony began at Placer County Superior Court.

Prosecutors earlier in the morning also argued with defendant Steve Kubby's
lawyer, J. Tony Serra, about how testimony would progress over the next few
days. Prosecutors sought to restrict the scope of testimony that would be
offered by defense witness William Logan.

Deputy District Attorney Chris Cattran and defense attorneys Serra and J.
David Nick debated a defense motion to remove Placer County prosecutors from
trying the 19-count marijuana cultivation trial, but Judge John L. Cosgrove
rejected the bid to hand the case over to state prosecutors.

On Halloween day, the courtroom's mood lifted as several of the jurors
walked in wearing costumes. But seriousness quickly returned. Many of the
jurors sat with arms crossed as Serra laid out what the defense plans to
establish during the coming days.

In his half-hour opening statement to jurors, Serra devoted a good deal time
talking about Kubby's character. At length, Serra spoke of his client's
reputation as a serious academic, an aspiring Libertarian leader and a solid
family man, who began cultivating pot to cope medically with his cancer.

Falling ill in the 1970s, Kubby turned to medical marijuana later that
decade, Serra told jurors.

"He went to marijuana because he read about it. He tried marijuana because
this man was going to die in five years from his kind of cancer," Serra
said. "It saved his life. It's still the cause of his life."

Behind the defense table, Kubby and his wife sat side-by-side with their
arms locked, watching testimony unfold. Across the courtroom, a courtroom
artist sketch drawings of the high-profile proceedings.

Serra also devoted considerable time explaining to jurors why he thought it
was important for them to understand the minutia about marijuana
cultivation. Serra highlighted certain aspects of how he believed the yield
of his client's garden would show the pot was for only private, medical use.

Serra told jurors that Kubby even burned 10 pounds of inferior pot.

"He burned (it) because he saw this was not the strain beneficial to his
cancer," Serra said.

Logan, himself a lawyer from Three Rivers, testified as an expert witness on
marijuana cultivation cases. Under Serra's questioning, Logan described
numerous variables of pot growing present in Kubby's pot garden that made it
appear to be for personal medical use.

Logan testified that Kubby's garden included certain hybrid plants that
medical pot growers use. He testified Kubby grew experimental plants, some
that had longer growing seasons not found in faster-growing commercial
gardens.

Was Kubby's garden sophisticated, Serra asked the witness.

"It was much better than average, but less than fully sophisticated," of a
commercial operation, Logan testified. "Plants were picked for their medical
yield."

He also testified that finding a timer and tanks of carbon dioxide gas,
which feeds the plants, at an indoor garden is neither a big investment nor
something used exclusively by commercial growers.

Serra wrapped up Logan's testimony by talking about whether the yield of
Kubby's garden fit the standard used by medical pot growers. This "Oakland
standard" was set by a commission comprising lawyers, doctors and botanists.
In part, it allows the growth of 48 flowering plants and 96 younger plants
for a single patient. The Kubbys, who each possessed a physician's
recommendation to use marijuana as medicine, had 265 plants at various
stages of growth.

Logan testified that Kubby's 107 mature plants, which were seized Jan. 19,
1999, by narcotics agents at their Olympic Valley home, would not exceed the
yield allowed under the Bay Area standard. Kubby's garden would produce less
than 31/2 pounds, Logan said.

"I think this was for personal use," Logan testified. "I think the yield is
well within the guidelines."