KEY WITNESS IN MARIJUANA ACTIVIST'S BATTERY CASE ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGE

A key defense witness in the battery case against a high-profile
marijuana activist was arrested Friday on three felony charges
related to an outdoor marijuana crop at his Temecula home.

Martin Victor, 56, was released from custody Saturday after posting
bail and testified Monday in West Valley Superior Court on behalf of
Palm Springs resident Lanny Swerdlow.

Swerdlow is facing battery charges for allegedly shoving an anti-drug
activist at a meeting last year for the Inland Valley Drug Free
Community Coalition.

Swerdlow denies shoving coalition founder Paul Chabot, who tried to
deny Swerdlow entry to the Rancho Cucamonga meeting.

He said in testimony Monday that he side-stepped Chabot before
entering the meeting.

But outside the courtroom where Swerdlow was on trial, the primary
topic of discussion among marijuana activists was the timing of
Victor's arrest - coming only three days before he was scheduled to testify.

Riverside County sheriff's deputies arrived with search warrants at
about 5:15 p.m. Friday at the home of Martin and La Vonne Victor in
the 45000 block of Palmetto Way.

Martin Victor was arrested at about 7:30 p.m. on suspicion of
cultivation of marijuana, possession of concentrated cannabis and
possession of marijuana for sale.

He was booked at Southwest Detention Center, near Murrieta, on $50,000 bail.

Despite allegations of odd timing, sheriff's Lt. Scot Collins said
the department had no knowledge of Victor's involvement in Swerdlow's
battery case.

"The arrest was made based on neighbor complaints," Collins said.
"Sheriffs didn't know about the appearance in the San Bernardino
court. I didn't know about it until (Monday afternoon)."

The prosecutor in Swerdlow's battery case, Garo Madenlian, said he
had only heard about the arrest Monday morning when he got to court.

The timing of the arrest was "absolutely not" related to Victor's
scheduled testimony, Madenlian said.

Chabot declined to comment on Victor's arrest.

The deputies found 70 marijuana plants at the Victor house, which is
in a residential tract-home community in Temecula, Collins said.

Officers had received complaints from neighbors that the Victors were
growing marijuana and that there was a smell coming from the house,
Collins said.

Although the parties involved are calling it a raid, Collins said it
was nothing like that.

"We knocked on the door and talked about the legal issues, looked at
their books," he said. "We called back to the DA's Office and it was
their opinion, as well as ours, that (the Victors) were not in
compliance with the attorney general's guidelines."

The guidelines from state Attorney General Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown
Jr. call for medical-marijuana cooperatives - meaning groups of
medical-marijuana users who collectively grow and share marijuana -
to be strictly nonprofit, which Victor says his was.

But because he could not produce proof of his cooperative's nonprofit
status, his marijuana was deemed illegal, Victor said.

Deputies seized surveillance equipment and the plants as evidence
from the home. They also found five pounds of dried marijuana, hash
and smoking pipes inside the residence.

Collins said the amount of marijuana found was not in compliance with
the attorney general's guidelines, a claim disputed Monday by Victor
and other marijuana activists.

Victor said he supplied marijuana to a cooperative consisting of 10
people, including himself, his wife, his mother, Swerdlow and others.

The cooperative would have one crop every year, and distribute the
marijuana free of charge once it was harvested to other cooperative members.

The leftover marijuana was later distributed for free to other
medical-marijuana users who lacked money to buy it elsewhere, Victor
and Swerdlow both said.

Victor said he worked with local law-enforcement officials to ensure
he was following the law when he established his annual marijuana crop.

Swerdlow's trial is scheduled to continue this morning in West Valley
Superior Court. Swerdlow is likely to begin the day on the witness
stand to face cross-examination from Madenlian.

Swerdlow, leader of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, is a
nurse at a Riverside medical office that writes recommendations for
medical-marijuana users.

Swerdlow is also a frequent writer on medical-marijuana use in local
newspapers, and he hosts local radio and television shows on the topic.