cannabisnews.com: Prop. 215 Activist's Conviction Reversed 





Prop. 215 Activist's Conviction Reversed 
Posted by FoM on September 08, 1999 at 11:02:36 PT
By John McDonald
Source: Orange County Register
A state appeals court has reversed the marijuana-sale conviction of David Herricks, the first Orange County defendant to raise a marijuana-for-medical-purposes defense.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed Herricks' conviction because of willful misconduct by the prosecutor in the case. It did not address the medical-marijuana issue.Herrick, who received a four-year sentence at Soledad state prison, was among the first in the state to raise the medical-marijuana defense under Proposition 215, which allows the use of marijuana for medical reasons.The court voided the conviction due to the closing arguments of then-Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust. In his closing argument in the Herrick case, Armbrust said the defense had failed to use evidence that the trial judge had already ruled was not admissible.The evidence was 600 receipt slips recording donations to the Orange County Cannabis Co-op where Herrick volunteered.The appeals court ruled that Armbrust's misconduct "undermined the defense's credibility." The state attorney general has not decided whether to appeal the decision or to seek a second trial. J. David Nick, the San Francisco lawyer representing imprisoned Orange County Cannabis Co-op founder Marvin Chavez, said he had attempted to remove Armbrust as prosecutor in that case. "He was no longer an unbiased prosecutor," Nick said. "He was swinging his sword in any direction he could to take the defendant down." Armbrust, now retired, could not be reached for comment.September 8, 1999COURTS: Decision is based on misconduct, not the medical-marijuana issue. 
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