PROP. 215 MANEUVERING

The Orange County trial of Marvin Chavez,accused of selling marijuana by the
prosecution-and guilty only of trying to implement Prop. 215
responsibly,according the the(sic) defense-took an unusual turn Monday.
Defense attorneys James Silva and David Nick filed a motion to have Deputy
District Attorney Carl Armbrust disqualified from prosecuting the case
because "there is reasonable possibility that [he] will not exercise his
discretionary function in an even handed manner and has abandoned his duty
to seek justice."

The burden of the defense complaint is that by his statements to reporters
and letters in the Register, Mr. Armbrust has gone far enough beyond simple
vigorous prosecution as to raise questions about his ability to be fair.
Prosecutors have been removed from cases before for similar reasons. Whether
Mr. Armbrust's removal is warranted depends on the evidence and arguments to
be presented today.

Another important step for the status of medical marijuana in general, and
perhaps in some ways for the Chavez case, happens on Election Day, when
voters in Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and the District of Columbia will
all have medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot. The outcome will
indicate what voters in other states are thinking, two years after
California's Prop. 215 passed.

It would be refreshing if California could begin to demonstrate that we've
had enough of inconclusive court battles and are ready to implement
responsibly the will of the people as expressed in Prop. 215. Which county
or city council will step up to meet the challenge?

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst