EX-POT CLUB DIRECTOR GATHERS TOP LAWYERS

Faced with criminal drug charges and a lengthy prison term, the director of
San Jose's now-defunct medical marijuana club has assembled a legal ``Dream
Team'' to present his defense.

Attorneys Gerald F. Uelmen and Tom Nolan were formalarijuana advocate Peter
Baez yesterday in a Santa Clara County courtroom.

Uelmen, a law ply named to represent mrofessor and former dean of Santa
Clara University School of Law, and an expert on constitutional law, has
defended clients as varied as O.J. Simpson and Daniel Ellsberg. Nolan, a
criminal defense attorney based in Palo Alto, is widely considered one of
the best in his field.

Neither attorney would comment on the case yesterday, but their appearance
in the fray has sparked speculation that the Baez trial may have precedent
setting potential.

Baez was founder of the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center that
opened in early 1997 and closed May 8. The Santa Clara County District
Attorney filed seven felony counts against Baez in May, charging him with
selling marijuana to people lacking a doctor's recommendation, operating a
drug house, grand theft and housing fraud. Before his legal troubles began,
Baez had been lauded by city officials for his efforts to help create a
medical marijuana ordinance in San Jose.

Deputy District Attorney Denise Raabe said she expected the issues at trial
to be narrowly limited to Baez's alleged drug trafficking violations. But
many others in the medical marijuana movement hope the jury will be allowed
to consider broader issues related to Proposition 215, which legalized
medical marijuana use in California.

In addition, some local attorneys speculated that prominent local
officials, including Mayor Susan Hammer and former San Jose Police Chief
Lou Cobarruviaz, might be called to the stand to testify about San Jose's
unique marijuana dispensary law, bringing publicity to the issue. Kate
Wells, a Santa Cruz attorney who worked with Uelmen to defend a marijuana
club charged in federal court last year, said Uelmen is intrigued by the
evolving area of drugs and the law.

Uelmen is also part of the legal team currently defending six Northern
California marijuana clubs in federal court.

``This is frontier law we're making here,'' Wells said. ``It's always
exciting for an attorney to be in on the ground floor of breaking legal
ground.''

Baez's trial, originally slated to begin Monday, has been postponed until
September 28.

1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A22

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)