MEDICAL MARIJUANA TRIAL ON HOLD AMID ARRAIGNMENT GLITCH

SACRAMENTO - The federal prosecution of a north state medical marijuana
dispensary operator stalled Thursday amid concern that the due-process
rights of defendant Bryan James Epis were violated.

The case against Epis, the first federal criminal case involving a cannabis
buyers' club, has intensified already-growing tensions between the federal
government and local advocates who point to a 1996 voter-approved state law
that allows the use of medically-necessary marijuana for the seriously ill.

In an unforeseen motion calling on U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr.
to dismiss the case accusing Epis of conspiring to grow at least 1,000
marijuana plants near a Chico school, high-profile defense attorney J. Tony
Serra argued his client was not arraigned on the charges for which he now
faces.

The mix-up presumably comes as the result of several federal indictments
that were submitted over a period of five years. Serra asserts his client
was not charged with the last indictment, which he claims superseded the
previous two complaints.

"The U.S. attorney wanted my client so bad that they forgot something as
fundamental as arraigning him," Serra said after Thursday's half-day
hearing, which the prosecution spent outlining its evidence against Epis.

Because the call for dismissal came after the trial officially began and
evidence was already presented, there comes into play the question of
whether a new trial would expose Epis, 35, to double jeopardy.

If convicted, he could face a mandatory 10-year federal prison sentence
stemming from charges that he conspired to grow at least 1,000 pot plants
and grew at least 100 plants near Chico High School.

A law school graduate and co-founder of the Medical Marijuana Caregivers in
Chico, Epis contends he began operating the local cannabis buyers' club
after state voters approved Proposition 215, which allows for the medical
use of marijuana with a physician's signed recommendation.

Asst. U.S. Attorney Samuel Wong maintains Epis was growing pot before
passage of Prop. 215, and that he ultimately hoped to glean huge profits
from his operation, as shown by a multi-year business plan that was seized
by federal agents.

Serra, a famous San Francisco defense attorney, quickly scoffed at Wong's
claims, calling them specious.

"My client is not ashamed of cultivating because ... what he was doing was
a good thing, not a bad thing," Serra said. "My client has no motive of
greed. The evidence will show he had no need for money," Serra continued,
pointing to Epis' family wealth.

Upon ordering the trial recessed until Tuesday, when the status of Epis'
arraignment can be determined, Judge Damrell said the lack of Epis'
arraignment was "not conclusive, but pretty persuasive."

"I hope that this (trial) hasn't been a total waste of time and money, but
I suspect that it may have been," Damrell said.

Only a day earlier, the court was forced to comb a second pool of
prospective jurors after dismissing a potential panel that was tainted by
pro-medical marijuana, anti-jury protesters dispensing leaflets outside the
court building.