TRIAL BEGINS FOR MAN ACCUSED OF SELLING MARIJUANA

Mention Of Prop. 215, Allowing medical Use Of The Drug, Has Been Barred.

California's Proposition 215 is a forbidden defense strategy for accused
pot peddler David Lee Herrik. But overtones of the medical-marijuana
initiative filled a Santa Ana courtroom Monday as Herrick's marijuana sales
trial opened.

One of the prosecution witnesses is unavailable because he succumbed to
lung cancer that led him to Herrick's marijuana club in the first place,
defence attorney Sharon Petrosino said in her opening statement.

Clients of the Orange County Cannabis Co-Op listened to testimony with
crutches and walking canes scattered at their feet.

Petrosino said Herrick's only goal was to provide "medicine to ...
seriously ill and terminally ill Californians."

Herrick, 48, is charged with four counts of marijuana sales. Judge William
R. Froeberg has already ruled that Prop.215 cannot be used as a defence
because it does not allow for the sale of marijuana, only the use-by sick
people with a doctor's prescription.

Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust told the jury that the case is
simple: Herrick sold marijuana and broke California law. He faces up to
five years in state prison if convicted.

The trial is expected to conclude today.

Herrick, an officer of the Orange County Cannabis Co-Op, was arrested last
year after Santa Ana police found marijuana in plastic bags inside his
motel room. The bags were marked, "Not for sale. For medical purposes
only."

Petrosino told the jury the club provided marijuana to sick people with
prescriptions. It accepted donations, but they were not mandatory,
Petrosino said.

Armbrust disagreed: "You can call it what you want, donations or whatever,
it's still an exchange of marijuana for money."

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