cannabisnews.com: Hallinan Testifies At Medical Pot Growers' Trial 





Hallinan Testifies At Medical Pot Growers' Trial 
Posted by FoM on March 28, 2001 at 06:26:32 PT
By Pamela J. Podger, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
Defense lawyers in the state's first jury trial of suppliers to marijuana clubs opened their case yesterday with their star witness: San Francisco's district attorney, Terence Hallinan. The city's top prosecutor made a rare visit to the witness stand for an hour and a half on behalf of Kenneth E. Hayes and Michael S. Foley, who are accused of illegally cultivating and selling pot in Sonoma County for the 1, 280-member club CHAMP -- Cannabis Helping Alleviate Medical Problems -- in the Castro. 
Hayes was the executive director of CHAMP, and Foley was the club's general manager. Hallinan said the two men were operating within the guidelines of Proposition 215, the 1996 state initiative legalizing marijuana for medical use, and that the case never would have been prosecuted in San Francisco. Hallinan's support for Hayes and Foley runs against the hard-nosed prosecution of medical marijuana cases by Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins, who declined comment while the trial was under way. "I'm not dueling with Mike Mullins," Hallinan said during the lunch break. "I'm just here testifying on behalf of a guy who, in my opinion, is performing a public service in San Francisco in terms of helping a lot of sick people alleviate their suffering by supplying them with marijuana." Oakland defense lawyer William Panzer said Proposition 215, OF which he was co-author, permits cultivation and consumption of the weed for chronically ill people who have a doctor's recommendation. "Mr. Hallinan told Mr. Hayes the best thing he can do is grow marijuana in California," Panzer told Superior Court Judge Robert Boyd, before the jury was brought into the courtroom. "The Berlin Wall cannot go up around Sonoma County; it doesn't matter where (Hayes) is doing it as long as it is in California." Patting Hayes on the right shoulder as he strode toward the stand, Hallinan said he had met with the defendant "four to six" times and had visited the pot club three times to watch the operations, including how staffers dispensed the drug and verified patients' authorization by licensed doctors. The two defendants had the support of Mayor Willie Brown, the San Francisco Police Department and Board of Supervisors, according to San Francisco defense lawyer Nicole DeFever. Hallinan said the "tricky part" of Proposition 215 for marijuana clubs was finding a pot supply that didn't involve black market purchases. Hayes helped devise San Francisco's registration system of patients, he added. Hayes told Hallinan he wanted to cut the drug costs by cultivating the plant himself, experimenting with different strains and using pesticide-free methods. "I think that what Ken Hayes was doing was protected by Proposition 215," Hallinan said. "I would say he was the most helpful of all the people involved in the medical marijuana movement." But under questioning by Sonoma County prosecutor Carla Claeys, Hallinan admitted he knew few details of the men's 899-plant operation in six greenhouses and a barn on Petaluma's King Road. Claeys, who served as an intern in Hallinan's office in 1996 as a third- year law student, got him to read to the jury his ballot argument in favor of the initiative. In it, Hallinan wrote that Proposition 215 wouldn't allow "unlimited quantities of marijuana to be grown anywhere. It only allows marijuana to be grown for a patient's personal use. Police officers can still arrest anyone who grows too much or tries to sell it." Hallinan also said he hadn't considered whether a corporation such as CHAMP, instead of an individual, could be designated as a primary caregiver for medical marijuana patients. Proposition 215 allows for marijuana cultivation only by such caregivers or the patients. Note: Says crop 'protected by Prop. 215' E-mail Pamela J. Podger at: ppodger sfchronicle.comSource: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Pamela J. Podger, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 Copyright: 2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 17 Address: 901 Mission St., San Francisco CA 94103Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/Feedback: http://www.sfgate.com/select.feedback.htmlRelated Articles & Web Site:C.H.A.M.P.http://www.champsf.org/Pot Trial Focuses on Reason for Growing http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9005.shtmlCannabis Club Pot-Growing Trial Begins http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9003.shtmlCounty Jurors To Rule on Medical Marijuana Once Againhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8985.shtml 
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