THE CHAVEZ TRIAL

Perhaps the most interesting comment during Marvin Chavez's trial on 10
marijuana sales-related charges, which continued Monday in the West County
court in Westminster, came from Hector Rios, an investigator with the
District Attorney's Office. He had posed as the cousin of Joseph Morales,
another D.A. investigator, as the two tried to obtain marijuana from Mr.
Chavez in an undercover operation. Asked by defense attorney James Silve if
he had studied the new medical-marijuana law (Prop. 215 or Health and
Safety Sec. 11362.5) before joining the undercover investigation of Mr.
Chavez, Mr. Rios said he hadn't and the to this day he has no idea what the
medical-marijuana law is in any detail.

Can this be true? Two years after Prop. 215's passage, have local
investigators who do undercover drug-law work not been briefed or been
instructed to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the new law so
they won't waste their time and the taxpayers' money investigating people
who, under the law, have a legal right to possess, use and cultivate
marijuana? If so, this would be a disturbing neglect of law enforcement's
duty to obey and find a way to follow a new law.

The Chavez trial opened on Monday with testimony from Jack Shachter, an
associate of Mr. Chavez, appearing as a defense witness. Mr. Shachter
appeared despite concerns from his own attorney since he faces criminal
charges himself. His public defender, Claudia Gaona, sat next to him in the
witness stand and raised concerns about some questions, but the testimony
concluded without Mr. Shachter invoking his right not to incriminate himself.

Mr. Shachter testified that after Mr. Chavez was arrested and released in
January, district attorney investigator Joseph Moreno, still posing as
Victor Flores, a patient with severe and chronic back pain, contacted him
(Mr. Moreno he would have to verify his status as a member of the Orange
County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group,k then later told him he could
not furnish marijuana because he didn't have an "medicine," as both called it.

Mr. Shachter said he also had several contacts with David Reyes of the
Garden Grove Police Department, posing as Al Pena, a nephew of
Flore/Moreno. Finally, he told Pena/Reyes not to call him again until he
received a caregiver card from Mr. Chavez. On cross-examination, Deputy
District Attorney Carl Armbrust questioned why Mr. Chavez had told
investigator Moreno to call Mr. Shachter at a time when Mr. Shachter was
not distributing marijuana and he tried to get Mr. Shachter to specify that
at a different time Mr. Schachter had distributed marijuana, but the
questions were not allowed.

Mr. Rios then took the stand, explained how he had posed as Mr.
Flores/Moreno's cousin and obtained marijuana from Mr. Chavez. The
prosecution played a tape of the meeting, The prosecution stressed that
money as well as marijuana changed hands while the defense stressed that
the money offering was characterized as a donation. After seeing a
transcript of an earlier meeting Mr. Rios conceded that it could be
characterized as something other than a sale.

The afternoon began (with the jury not present) with a discussion about
separating seeds and stems. Last week the defense established that a
criminalist who had weighed some marijuana seized from Mr. Chavez had
included seeds and stems, and argued that under the law, such
non-pychoactive parts of the plant should not be included as marijuana. On
Friday the prosecution instructed another criminalist to separate the seeds
and stems from another batch of marijuana seized from Mr. Chavez, weigh
the remainder and then analyze it. He said it was marijuana and weighed
35.9 grams.

Judge Thomas Borris finally allowed the testimony and said the defense
could present its own expert witness. The issue is important because under
California law, possession, transportation, etc. of less than one ounce
(28.5 grams) of marijuana is a misdemeanor, while possession of more than
an ounce is a felony.

Marvin Chavez himself then took the stand and his lawyers led him through a
description of his own medical problems, a cursory description of how the
"cannabis co-op," also called the Orange County Doctor Patient Nurse
Support Group, operated and how he dealt with the undercover investigators.

Mr. Chavez's testimony should be finished tomorrow, followed by
cross-examination, then perhaps one more defense witness. Unless further
delays occur (don't bet against it) closing arguments take place in the
afternoon and then the case, which could help determine how Prop. 215 will
be implemented, will be in the jury's hands.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan