S.F. DA DROPS CHARGES AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACKER

SAN FRANCISCO -- The district attorney's office has dropped drug and
pornography charges against a nationally known medical marijuana
advocate, who angrily accused police of deliberately targeting his
residence for a raid and slandering him.

Richard Evans, 35, was arrested following a Friday night police visit
to his residence that police said was initiated by a silent alarm call.

But Evans said in an interview that he believes police intentionally
triggered the alarm as an excuse to get inside his residence, where
they knew he was growing marijuana for medical use.

Police completely trashed his apartment, he said, and left one of his
four-inch knives lodged in a door in what he feels was a thinly veiled
threat.

``San Francisco police are rogue agents. It's out of control,'' said
Evans. ``I think they were triggering the alarm so they could bust in
the back door.''

Evans also said that police had seized from his apartment two
professional art books by renowned San Francisco photographer Jock
Sturges, which contained nude images. He vehemently denied possessing
any prurient pictures.

``The cops slandered me by saying any photograph in my house was
pornographic. I say, if they have something pornographic, let's look
at it,'' he said.

Evans also said he had a doctor's recommendation for using pot and
that he was suspicious of how police came to raid his home. He said he
was growing marijuana strictly for medical use.

Evans said he learned Tuesday that the district attorney's office had
dropped charges of growing marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale
and possession of child pornography.

Lt. Kitt Crenshaw, the officer in charge of the raid, confirmed that
the charges against Evans had been dropped.

Prosecutors said they wanted to investigate the case further before
deciding whether to refile charges, Crenshaw said.

Evans said he runs the San Francisco Patients and Caregivers Health
Center and was previously director of Americans for Compassionate Use.

Evans had recently applied for a city permit to operate a medical
marijuana club, Crenshaw said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry