A CLOCKWORK ORANGE: JUDGE DREDD GOES ON VACATION

The timing couldn't have been better for Marvin Chavez, the
medical-cannabis advocate who faces several years in state prison if
convicted on 10 counts of felony pot distribution.

On Aug. 4, Chavez rejected an offer by Deputy District Attorney Carl
Armbrust that would have given him five years of probation-and no jail
time-in return for a promise not to distribute pot to members of his
organization (read: sick people). It seemed like a good deal, but just 24
hours later, Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald, who the previous week
had ruled that Chavez could not use Proposition 215-the state's
medicinal-marijuana initiative-as a legal defense in his upcoming trial,
removed himself from the case so he could go on vacation.

A similar anti- Prop. 215 ruling helped convict Chavez's cohort, David Lee
Herrick. That ruling sent the former San Bernardino County sheriff's
deputy to the Wasco state prison for four years.

Fitzgerald, whose chambers boast a poster of the Sly Stallone sci-fi flick
Judge Dredd, was replaced by Judge Franklin Fasel, who told a seemingly
disappointed Armbrust that he plans to hold a special pretrial hearing on
whether to reverse Fitzgerald's decision. Trial for Chavez starts on Aug. 14.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski