MAN WHO SOLD POT TO THE SICK CONVICTED

The judge rules that Prop. 215 allows only the use, not the sale of
marijuana for medical purposes.

A Santa Ana man was convicted Wednesday of felony marijuana sales for
distributing the drug to sick people who had obtained doctors'
prescriptions after the 1996 approval of California's medical-marijuana
law.

David Lee Herrick was not allowed to use Prop. 215 as a defense at his
trial because the law does not protect the sale of marijuana, only the use.

Jurors said they were troubled by that void, submitting a handwritten note
to the judge that asked, what about "the will of the people?"

Instructed that the law does not protect the sale of marijuana, jurors
quickly convicted Herrick, 48, a retired San Bernardino County sheriff's
deputy.

"Unfortunately, the way the law was described to us, it couldn't have
anything to do with it," said jury foreman Richard Emmons, 37, a financial
officer from Mission Viejo.

Jurors acquitted Herrick of two other sale charges. He faces a maximum
sentence of three years, eight months in state prison at sentencing June 26
before Judge William R. Froegerg.

Defense attorney Sharon Petrosino vowed to appeal, largely because Froeberg
prohibited her from using Prop. 215 as a defense.

"Clearly the jury thought it was relevant," Petrosino said. "The people
voted for this. Let the people make the decision."

The judge's decision to exclude Prop. 215 also gutted much of the
significance of what was supposed to have been Orange County's first legal
test of the medical-marijuana law.

Duputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust said the verdict sends just one
message: It is illegal to exchange marijuana for money in California,
prescription or not.

"It was a good verdict," Armbrust said. "You cannot sell marijuana. It's
not authorized. The law was not changed."

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)