cannabisnews.com: Last Charge Dropped in S.J. Pot Center Case Last Charge Dropped in S.J. Pot Center Case Posted by FoM on December 01, 2000 at 09:15:52 PT By Ann Marimow, Mercury News Source: San Jose Mercury News A Santa Clara Superior Court judge on Thursday dismissed a misdemeanor conviction against Peter Baez -- the last vestige of a high-profile case involving the founder of one of Santa Clara County's first medical marijuana centers.The charges stemmed from Baez's operation of the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center, which provided marijuana to AIDS and cancer patients for about a year until it closed after his arrest in May 1998. Reached at his home in Gilroy, Baez said he was grateful for the judge's decision.``Even though it was a badge of courage,'' said Baez, an advocate for medicinal marijuana for the sick and dying, ``I'm glad to get rid of it.''Baez, cousin of folk singer Joan Baez, initially was indicted by a grand jury on seven felony counts, including five counts of illegally selling marijuana and two counts of grand theft. Prosecutors accused Baez of running the center in violation of police department regulations requiring him to check doctors' prescriptions for marijuana.Last May, in a deal worked out with prosecutors, Baez pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor charge of maintaining a place for the sale of marijuana. An appeals court had thrown out his original indictment, citing irregularities in how the county district attorney's office keeps transcripts of grand jury proceedings.The agreement resulted in the dismissal of the felony counts. Baez was ordered to pay a $100 fine, perform 50 hours of community service and spend a year under supervised probation.Despite opposition from the district attorney on Thursday, Judge Diane Northway ended Baez's probation early and dismissed the single misdemeanor charge.Baez's defense attorney Tom Nolan said he initially requested an end to Baez's probation in August because Baez is terminally ill with cancer and AIDS.But prosecutors wanted Baez to complete the year probation and 14 more hours of community service.``We thought our bargain last spring was a very humane one, and this went a little bit further than what we had wanted,'' said assistant district attorney Karyn Sinunu, who supervised the case.Still, Sinunu said her office won't appeal the judge's decision. Contact Ann Marimow at: amarimow sjmercury.com or (650) 688-7531.Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)Author: Ann Marimow, Mercury NewsPublished: Friday, December 1, 2000Copyright: 2000 San Jose Mercury NewsAddress: 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190Fax: (408) 271-3792Contact: letters sjmercury.comWebsite: http://www.sjmercury.com/Related Article: Legal Victory for Ex-Leader of Marijuana Clubhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/5/thread5408.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by freedom fighter on December 01, 2000 at 16:17:10 PT What's so humane about this? ``We thought our bargain last spring was a very humane one, and this went a little bit further than what we had wanted,'' said assistant district attorney Karyn Sinunu, who supervised the caseHow can one possibly understand what she is saying?Does she take pleasure in saying that the LEOs are very humane? I cannot fathom the sickness in this! For Pete's sake, leave the sick people alone! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: