CONFLICTING MARIJUANA LAWS TAKE STAGE IN TRIAL

San Luis Obispo County businessman is fighting prosecutors' contention
that he is a drug trafficker

A highly anticipated trial involving conflicting marijuana laws got
underway Friday in Los Angeles federal court with a prosecutor
painting the owner of a Morro Bay medicinal marijuana store as a
brazen drug trafficker who sold dope to teenagers and toted around a
backpack stuffed with cash.

Defense attorneys struggled to provide context for their client's
alleged crimes after being barred by the judge from mentioning the
phrase "medical marijuana."

At the center of the case is Charlie Lynch, a 46-year-old businessman
from San Luis Obispo County, who opened a facility called Central
Coast Compassionate Caregivers in the spring of 2006.

Prosecutors contend that Lynch violated federal law by selling $2.1
million worth of marijuana in less than a year, some of it to people
"not yet old enough to legally drink."

Lynch's defense attorneys would like to present evidence that their
client was dispensing doctor-prescribed medical marijuana to sick
people in accordance with state law and with the blessing of elected
officials in Morro Bay. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has concluded
that federal drug laws trump those of the state and that the reasons
why the drug is distributed are irrelevant.

But one of Lynch's lawyers hinted during opening statements that Lynch
had sought -- and presumably received -- approval from an official
with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration before he set up
shop. If they are able to convince U.S. District Judge George Wu that
there is a sufficient basis for mounting such a quasi-entrapment
defense, they may be allowed to present evidence that Lynch believed
he was operating within the law, which legal experts said would likely
make him more sympathetic to jurors.

"It could have an enormous effect," said Rebecca Lonergan, a USC law
professor and former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles. "Any time you
have a hot political or public policy issue like this, there is the
risk that members of the jury will decide based on their politics, not
the evidence in the case."

Though they were not explicitly told that the case involved medical
marijuana, potential jurors revealed strong opinions on the topic and
confusion about the law during the jury selection process. One man, an
engineer, said he had trouble reconciling how it could be legal to
sell marijuana under state law and prohibited by federal law.

"It just doesn't make sense to me," he said. The man was excused from
the panel.

Other potential jurors were dismissed after revealing strong feelings
on the issue.

"I don't think I'd be a fair juror because I tend to side with the
state law," said a young woman from Torrance who told lawyers she had
one friend with chronic back pain and another with stomach cancer who
had used the drug medicinally.

"If a person is going to have a better quality of life, I'd prefer to
give them that," she said.

Another potential juror said she was so troubled by the fact that
someone would break any law -- state or federal -- that she had
already concluded the defendant was guilty.

Opening statements began Friday morning with Assistant U.S. Atty.
David P. Kowal telling jurors that Lynch had sold drugs to more than
2,000 people, 250 of them under the age of 21, which carries a special
sentencing enhancement under federal law. Many of the young customers
"came back time and again," Kowal said.

He told jurors that records seized from Lynch's store and home
revealed that he distributed more than 100 kilos of marijuana worth
about $2.1 million during the approximately 11 months he was in
business. When police and federal agents raided Lynch's home in March
2007, they found a backpack containing $27,000, possible proceeds from
recent sales at the store.

"It involved money. Lots of money," Kowal told jurors, "and he was at
the center of everything."

If convicted, Lynch faces a minimum of five years in federal
prison.

As the prosecutor spoke, Lynch, who looks as much like a bank manager
as drug dealer, sat impassively between his two federal public
defenders, Reuven Cohen and John Littrell.

Cohen told jurors that they "will hear directly from Charlie Lynch"
when he takes the witness stand in his own defense. He also told
jurors that there would be testimony from Lynch's patients, parents
who took sick kids to his dispensary and elected officials from Morro
Bay who supported Lynch's efforts.

How much of that testimony jurors will actually get to hear remains to
be seen. The judge must still decide whether the entrapment defense is
viable and opens the door to such testimony, a decision likely to be
reached over the next several days.

If jurors were to hear Lynch's story, it would go something like this,
according court files and interviews:

Far from the cynical entrepreneur portrayed by prosecutors, Lynch is a
compassionate and responsible man who wanted to help sick people and
make a reasonable profit. He obtained a business license before
opening his doors and was welcomed by city leaders in Morro Bay, some
of whom mugged for photos with him at a Chamber of Commerce ribbon
cutting.

The facility itself was situated in the heart of the seaside
community's downtown shopping district.

Among Lynch's patients was Owen Beck, a 17-year-old high school
football and soccer player who developed bone cancer and had to have
his leg amputated, Lynch's lawyers said. The teen's parents took him
to Lynch's facility after traditional medicine took away his appetite
and did little to ease his pain.

The pot lessened Owen's pain but not his appetite, he said in an
interview on actor Drew Carey's website, www.reason.tv.

Steve Beck, Owen's father, said Lynch often gave his son marijuana at
no charge because he was "a compassionate kind of guy."