SHERIFF IS RELUCTANT WITNESS IN DRUG CASE

Court: Defendant Says Baca Told Him 'It Was OK' to Distribute Medical Pot;
Baca Denies It.

A man charged with growing and selling marijuana rested his case in a
preliminary hearing Wednesday after calling a single defense witness:
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

Steve Corchado said the 26 plants police found in his home in October
2001 were for medical use by himself and members of his Santa Monica
cannabis club. He said Baca told him "that it was OK" to distribute
the drug if he followed California law that decriminalized marijuana
use for medical purposes.

Baca, who had tried to avoid testifying, acknowledged that he posed
for a photograph with Corchado at a West Hollywood festival, but
denied Corchado's account of the conversation.

"I do not conduct office business in a parade atmosphere at a booth,"
Baca testified.

In an interview later Wednesday, Baca said he supports cannabis clubs
if they are well-run, lawful and supervised.

California voters approved an initiative legalizing marijuana use for
medical purposes by a margin of 56%.

"It's a social, human issue of great importance to all Americans,"
Baca said.

"I have great empathy for people who are HIV-positive and who are on
the slope of death. We have to defer to the medical community ... and
we as law enforcement need to remain on the table of reason and see
how the use of marijuana could save lives."

Baca said Corchado tried to use the Sheriff's Department to justify
illegal behavior.

"What I'm saying, without calling someone a liar, is that it didn't
happen," he said. "I would never condone any illegal act in any
circumstances."

Several medical marijuana activists and users came to watch the
preliminary hearing Wednesday in the Santa Monica courthouse. One wore
a T-shirt that read "Access Now" and had a picture of a marijuana
plant over a red cross.

Corchado, who was ordered to stand trial after the hearing, is not
charged with using marijuana for his own medical purposes, but for
cultivating and selling it. If convicted, he could be sentenced to
four years and eight months.

"He was selling marijuana under the guise of it being a medical
situation," contended the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Wendy Moss.

Corchado, 53, said he suffers from asbestos in his lungs, which he
said causes nausea, diarrhea and shortness of breath. Moss said he has
failed to produce proof that he is ill or that a doctor has prescribed
marijuana for him.

Proposition 215 gives seriously ill patients or their caregivers the
right to obtain marijuana for pain relief with a doctor's
prescription. Two years later, Corchado opened the Comfort Care Group
and said he has since provided marijuana to hundreds of patients, many
with AIDS or cancer.

But in 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal law prohibits
giving marijuana to sick people, and federal authorities shut down
several cannabis clubs in California.

Acting on a tip, an undercover Santa Monica police officer bought
marijuana from Corchado after getting a note from the doctor he
recommended, prosecutors said.

Police arrested Corchado and searched his condo, finding 26 marijuana
plants and drug-making materials, a credit card machine, and a product
list showing the names, prices and quantities for the medical
marijuana, court documents say.

Defense attorney David Nick said Corchado "received the green light
from Sheriff Baca." Had Corchado been advised not to continue running
the club, he would have closed down the club himself, Nick said. The
preliminary hearing was held after Corchado, who is out on bail,
turned down an offer to plead guilty and agree not to sell marijuana
in exchange for no jail time. Two other defendants in the case pleaded
no contest and were placed on probation.