A NEW CHAVEZ JUDGE

Switch: Vacation plans bring another jurist to marijuana activist case.

Santa Ana -- A new judge was assigned Wednesday to the drug-sales trial of
medical marijuana activist Marvin Chavez, giving his attorneys another shot
at bringing in Prop. 215 as a defense.

Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald, who had scheduled a three-week vacation
starting this weekend, had the Chavez case assigned to Judge Frank F.
Fasel, who said he was willing to revisit the Prop. 215 issue on Aug. 14.

Last week, Fitzgerald sided with the prosecution that Prop. 215 -- known as
the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 -- should be banned from the trial
because the medicinal marijuana measure does not allow for the sale of the
substance.

Chavez was arrested in April after allegedly selling marijuana to an
undercover officer posing as a care-giver for a terminally ill uncle. He is
facing eight felony drug-sale charges, and he was in court Wednesday for a
possible plea bargain deal when the shift in judges occurred.

Fasel's decision pleased both pro bono defense attorneys, Robert Kennedy of
Long Beach and Jon Alexander of Orange County.

"This gives us a second chance," Kennedy said.

The defense attorneys believe that Chavez will be convicted of the
felonies, unless they're allowed to show the jury that his activities were
basically in the spirit of Prop. 215.

Chavez is the co-founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support
Group that he says is designed to be a clearinghouse for the seriously ill
who use marijuana medicinally. The organization -- established after the
passage of Prop. 215 legalized the medicinal use of marijuana in the state
- -- has about 200 members, people who reportedly have presented a doctor's
recommendation for marijuana use.

Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust, head of the Narcotics Enforcement
Team, seized the group's medical records.

After Wednesday's brief hearing in Fasel's courtroom, Armbrust said he
plans to examine them to determine if doctors are involved in the cases --
and if they examined the patients before making the recommendation for
marijuana use.

Armbrust said that undercover officers determined that Chavez was not
taking steps to assure that doctors were involved in all medicinal
marijuana cases. However, he said he had no plans to file additional
charges in the Chavez case.

"I'm not looking at going against any doctor," he said. "And I'm not look
at going against any patient."

However, numerous members of the Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group have
sought the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union, seeking
protection from possible arrest and prosecution, said cannabis club member
Mira Ingram of Garden Grove.

Checked-by: Richard Lake