MARIJUANA ACTIVIST CONVICTED OF CULTIVATION, POSSESSION

Joe 'Hemp' Kidwell To Be Sentenced For Growing Pot Plants On Roof Of Venice
Office Building.

VENICE Joe "Hemp" Kidwell, a motorcycle mechanic-turned marijuana activist,
faces a maximum of three years in prison for growing 14 pot plants on the
roof of his Lincoln Boulevard office building last summer.

After two days of deliberation, a jury in Santa Monica Superior Court on
Wednesday convicted Kidwell, 45, of illegally cultivating and possessing
marijuana.

He was arrested on Aug. 10 after Los Angeles police, who were summoned by
citizen complaints, spotted the plants from the road. Kidwell's office is
in the building at 4059 Lincoln Blvd.

Kidwell's sentencing is scheduled June 2. He faces a 16-month to three-year
sentence on the cultivation charge and an additional six months and a
possible $500 fine for possession of the marijuana. Deputy District
Attorney Decio Rangel declined to comment on the details of the case until
after the sentencing phase of the trial.

Defense attorney Seymour Friedman promised to file a motion that calls the
jury's verdict "illogical." The jury ruled there is no evidence to convict
Kidwell of selling marijuana, then convicted him of illegally possessing
and growing the drug. However, a doctor's testimony proved that Kidwell is
legally protected by Prop. 215 to possess and cultivate marijuana for
medical use, Friedman said.

Friedman argued his client was growing and using marijuana to treat his
arthritis and back pain as recommended by his doctor. Proposition 215,
passed in 1996, allows the use and cultivation of marijuana for medical
purposes with a physician's verbal or written recommendation.

Orthopedic physician Dr. Fred Hakmet testified that he recommended Kidwell
use marijuana for his arthritis and chronic back pain.

Kidwell pleaded no contest three years ago to charges of marijuana
possession. At a preliminary hearing last month, West Los Angeles Judge
Rosemary Shumsky ruled there was insufficient evidence to try Kidwell's
business partner, David Clancy, 44, on similar charges.