VALE ATTORNEY TAKES OLD SCHOOL CASE

Brian Zanotelli Says City's Case Against Merchant Is 'Pretty Lame'

Ontario - The owner of Old School, the downtown Ontario business the
City of Ontario is suing for allegedly selling drug paraphernalia,
has retained Vale attorney Brian Zanotelli to represent her side of
the case in court.

"It's a pretty lame case," Zanotelli said Wednesday of the suit
against his client, Victoria Miller.

He said the city delivered the civil suit to Miller Dec. 4 or Dec.
5, and she has 30 days to respond. Zanotelli said he is still
preparing the response, but said he will deliver it in a week or so.

"We will just say it (the city's suit) is crazy. It's wrong. They
don't have a leg to stand on," Zanotelli said. "They will have to
have some hard evidence that Victoria knew she was selling things to
be used illegally, and I can't wait to see what that is."

He said restaurants in some Portland neighborhoods serve flavored
tobacco in glass water pipes to customers at outside tables. He said
he wondered how the city could show that is not what Miller sells
her pipes for. Then there is the whole issue of medical marijuana in
Oregon, where some people can legally use Miller's pipes for
marijuana, he said.

Ultimately, Zanotelli said, this suit will be an embarrassment for
Ontario. He said Nyssa sued a strip club and that case went all the
way to the Oregon Supreme Court. Nyssa not only lost, he said, but
spent a fortune doing it.

"I feel sad for Ontario," Zanotelli said. "This could wind up in the
Supreme Court."

While he feels bad that Ontario's reputation may suffer statewide,
Zanotelli said, he and Miller have no plans at this point to file a
countersuit and hurt the city or its citizens.

"Victoria doesn't want to get rich on this," he said. "She just
wants it to go away. We've got a little fire going here. Our
response will be to pour water on it, not gasoline."

Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris, who is leading the
city's legal effort against Old School, recently said the chief
catalyst for his involvement in the civil suit was Ontario Police
Chief Mike Kee and his concern that Old School was facilitating the
use of illegal drugs in the area.

Norris said he then volunteered the resources of his office to
assist the city. The goal of the suit, he said, is to force Miller
into compliance with Oregon law. He asserted prominent display of
the marijuana leaf symbol in the store, plus the sale of items like
synthetic urine to help drug users pass drug tests, marks Old School
as a drug paraphernalia shop.

"We take into consideration the marketing of the product," he said,
pointing out Miller's radio advertising leaves little doubt as to
what her products are to be used for.

Norris said Ontario City Attorney Larry Sullivan will do the bulk of
the work preparing the case because of his expertise in civil law.
One of Norris' senior deputy district attorneys, Lung Hung, will
present the case in court.

"Larry is a great trial lawyer," Norris said, "But our deputies here
have far more trial experience because they do this every day."

He described Hung as a very experienced trial lawyer. He said it
does not really make any difference that this is a civil suit.

"Trial work is trial work," Norris said. He said preparing the case
would be a lengthy process.

Sullivan said a similar case was the civil suit of Jackson County v.
Roark, decided against Steve Roark, owner of North Country Music, in
late 1993. That case was also a civil proceeding brought against
Roark under Oregon's drug paraphernalia statutes. Civil proceedings
require only a preponderance of evidence as the burden of proof,
instead of the proof beyond a reasonable doubt required in criminal cases.

Roark argued unsuccessfully that the case had really been a criminal
prosecution. The court did not agree and Roark was fined $10,000,
the maximum penalty, and forfeited his inventory. The jury found
that all of the items in evidence qualified as drug paraphernalia,
and actually fined Roark $20,000 because it found him guilty of
violating two counts of the statute, but the county requested that
penalty be reduced. Jackson County noted that during the three-month
period covered in the suit, Roark had received more than $13,000
from the sale of drug paraphernalia.

The decision said selling drug paraphernalia was not the type of
interest protected under the state or federal constitutions.