PROP. 215 ACTIVIST'S CONVICTION REVERSED

COURTS: Decision is based on misconduct, not the medical-marijuana issue.

A state appeals court has reversed the marijuana-sale conviction of David
Herrick, the first Orange County defendant to raise a
marijuana-for-medical-purposes defense.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed Herricks' conviction because
of willful misconduct by the prosecutor in the case. It did not address the
medical-marijuana issue.

Herrick, who received a four-year sentence at Soledad state prison, was
among the first in the state to raise the medical-marijuana defense under
Proposition 215, which allows the use of marijuana for medical reasons.

The court voided the conviction due to the closing arguments of then-Deputy
District Attorney Carl Armbrust.

In his closing argument in the Herrick case, Armbrust said the defense had
failed to use evidence that the trial judge had already ruled was not
admissible.

The evidence was 600 receipt slips recording donations to the Orange County
Cannabis Co-op where Herrick volunteered.

The appeals court ruled that Armbrust's misconduct "undermined the
defense's credibility."

The state attorney general has not decided whether to appeal the decision
or to seek a second trial.

J. David Nick, the San Francisco lawyer representing imprisoned Orange
County Cannabis Co-op founder Marvin Chavez, said he had attempted to
remove Armbrust as prosecutor in that case.

"He was no longer an unbiased prosecutor," Nick said. "He was swinging his
sword in any direction he could to take the defendant down."

Armbrust, now retired, could not be reached for comment.