UPDATE ON CHAVEZ

The wheels of justice are grinding slowly in Marvin Chavez's case,in
which he is accused of 10 counts of selling marijuana,but they are
grinding.On Monday Judge Frank R.Fasel gave the founder of the Orange
County Patients,Doctors,Nurses Support Group(which has worked to help
patients with recommendations from their doctors get access to medical
marijuana)permission to discharge his two attorneys,who have
represented him on a volunteer basis.

The case has been "trailed" until Friday, when it will be determined
whether the Orange County Public Defenders office can represent Mr.
Chavez or a private attorney will be appointed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chavez has recruited one attorney experienced in
medical-marijuana cases to serve as an adviser and is seeking others.

It is possible but probably unlikely that the involvement of new
attorneys will spur Judge Fasel to revisit his decision not to allow
the defense to bring up Prop. 215 (otherwise known as Health and
Safety Code 11362.5), the November 1996 initiative where by voters
decided that sick people with a doctor's recommendation should have
access to marijuana for medical purposes.

If handled properly the Chavez case could furnish valuable guidelines
for implementing Prop. 215, which has been done only spottily in
California as a whole and not at all in Orange County. We'll keep an
eye on developments.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry