MEDICAL-POT ADVOCATE'S TRIAL NOW IN JURY'S HANDS

Courts: The defendant's lawyer says he was entrapped;the prosecutor says the
case is one of simple drug dealing.

Marvin Chavez is either a compassionate crusader who bravely stuck his neck
out to ease others' suffering,or he's a street-level drug dealer who tried
to cloak his dirty business in California's new medical-marijuana law.

In an impassioned oratory Tuesday, Chavez's attorney, J. David Nick, accused
police and the district attorney of "a political witch hunt" riddled with
deception and gross misconduct that entrapped a well-meaning man.

Prosecutor Carl Armbrust calmly stated that the case was simple: Chavez
exchanged marijuana for money, and selling marijuana is illegal in
California.

Chavez is charged with 10 counts of selling or transporting marijuana, which
could land him in prison for a decade or more.

A gallery of about 20 ardent Chavez supporters filled the courtroom, some on
canes, some on crutches, some missing limbs, but all hanging on the outcome
of the trial that could determine police conduct in future medical-marijuana
cases.

Chavez is founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group,
the local "cannabis club" that popped up after Proposition 215 passed in
1996. Chavez suffers from severe back pain, and his group's mission was to
distribute marijuana to sick people who had a doctor's permission to use it.

The marijuana was given for free, Chavez maintains, but the group accepted
donations to cover operating costs.

Police mounted an undercover operation with officers posing as a sick man
and his caretakers, and police were expected to make "donations" when they
received their "medicine," they said.

Checked-by: Don Beck