cannabisnews.com: Pot Patients' Lawyer Wants DA Off The Case Pot Patients' Lawyer Wants DA Off The Case Posted by CN Staff on December 24, 2002 at 08:33:16 PT By Wendy Thomas Russell, Staff Writer Source: Press-Telegram Long Beach - An attorney representing medical-marijuana patients throughout California says Long Beach prosecutors have an "ax to grind' against such patients and has asked that they recuse themselves from his latest Long Beach case. San Francisco attorney J. David Nick claims the Long Beach branch of the Los Angeles district attorney's office has "initiated felony prosecutions against every individual who has raised a medical marijuana defense' a particularly aggressive and unfair stance, he says. "They are involved in a moral war where they take personal issue against marijuana use for medicinal reasons,' Nick says. "They are not upholding...all the laws of the state of California.' Nick represents Nathan Smiley, a 64-year-old Air Force veteran who is is being retried for cultivation of 19 marijuana plants after his first Long Beach Superior Court jury deadlocked. Nick claims Smiley, who suffers from chronic pain, is a perfect example of a legitimate patient growing pot for his own use. In a motion filed this month, Nick argued the Long Beach branch must be recused "because they have a particular ax to grind against lawful medical marijuana users, which makes it reasonably probable that...Smiley cannot get a fair trial.' Allen Fields, who runs the Long Beach office and decides which cases get filed, says that's far from the truth. He says he reviews cases on a case-by-case basis and has always followed the law as written. "I don't grind axes,' Fields says. "If this person thinks this is the most important case to pass across my desk, they better come in and take a look around. This hardly breaks the radar screen.' Nick says the numbers tell a different story. Since Fields took his post two years ago, prosecutors here have filed felony charges against four disabled people who allegedly had doctors' notes prescribing them marijuana to combat the effects of their illnesses. Two of the cases were dismissed. One ended in conviction, which is under appeal. And the Smiley case the fourth and final case is set to be retried next year. It's unclear whether Long Beach files such cases more aggressively than other jurisdictions in Los Angeles County. Curt Livesay, a chief deputy to District Attorney Steve Cooley, says he plans to look into the complaint in response to Nick's recusal motion. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 legalized marijuana for patients with doctors' notes and for primary caregivers of those with doctors' notes. The California Supreme Court upheld the law and clarified some of its finer points in a decision handed down last summer. But federal laws still ban marijuana use unconditionally, making it a sticky issue for law enforcement. "At the state level, it's permitted,' Noel Hacegaba, a spokesman for the Long Beach city prosecutor's office, points out. "At the federal level, it's not.' The state attorney general's office has left implementation of the law largely in the hands of the local officials, but Cooley's office has yet to formulate a policy on handling such cases. Livesay says Cooley has formed several working groups to look at the issue, and some standards have been proposed. But, he says, "none of them has been adopted as a policy,' despite Cooley's contention last year that one would be formulated. Livesay added that a policy may never be penned but rather be issued as a "special directive' reminding prosecutors that medical marijuana filings must be made on a case-by-case basis. Fields says that's exactly what he does already. Because the Compassionate Use Act is a defense only for possession and cultivation charges, defendants cannot invoke it as a defense for sale of marijuana. Long Beach Superior Court Judge Richard Romero is scheduled to hear the recusal motion in the Smiley case Jan. 21. Note: L.B.: Attorney urges prosecutors with 'ax to grind' to recuse selves.Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA)Author: Wendy Thomas Russell, Staff WriterPublished: Monday, December 23, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Los Angeles Newspaper GroupContact: speakout presstelegram.comWebsite: http://www.presstelegram.com/Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by Duzt on December 24, 2002 at 17:59:23 PT Dennis Dennis hasn't been left alone. He's been arrested and had his garden raided as well. Almost all high profile people (patients) have been harrassed in California [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by greek_philosophizer on December 24, 2002 at 15:29:41 PT: Why does Dennis Peron get left alone? Why does Dennis Peron get left alone in California and even show off his plants on the web - www.marijuana.org - and other people get busted? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment