MAN ENTERS NOT_GUILTY PLEA IN MEDICALMARIJUANA CASE

A Santa Ana man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three charges that he sold
marijuana, which his attorney said is allowed under Proposition 215.

David Lee Herrick, 47, charged with selling marijuana on three occasions,
distributed the pot to medical patients while working as a volunteer with
Orange County Cannabis C0op.

Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust said Herrick broke the law by
accepting money for the marijuana, even though the drug was to be used by
patients.

A defense attorney and the founder of Orange County Cannabis Coop said
Wednesday that Herrick did not sell the marijuana. Instead, they said, he
accepted voluntary contributions.

"What we ask for is a donation. If you truly can't afford it, you pay
zero," said Marvin Chavey, founder of the coop.

Prop.215, approved in November 1996 by 56 percent of California voters,
allows for the cultivation and possession of marijuana by people with a
doctor's note. How patients obtain an otherwise illegal substance is the
problem, Armbrust said.

"When they passed this law, they specifically said this doesn't include
sales of marijuana. Now they're coming along trying to tell me, 'At least
we can take donations form the people we're providing it for.' But the law
doesn't provide for that."

Deputy Public Defender Sharon Petrosino said patients will testify on
Herrick's behalf.

"The witnesses are going to say, 'I thank God for these people.'"

Herrick was arrested in May after police found seven bags of marijuana in
his Santa Ana motel room.