Pubdate: Mon, 01 May 2000 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register Contact: P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711 Fax: (714) 565-3657 Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ KUBBY TRIAL BEGINS The trial of former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate and cancer patient Steve Kubby and his wife Michele on numerous counts of marijuana sales and conspiracy is slated to begin today at the Placer County Courthouse in Auburn, just east of Sacramento. The Kubbys were arrested after a long surveillance on Jan. 19, 1999 in the house they rented near Lake Tahoe, and more than 200 marijuana plants were seized. The Kubbys, both of whom are medical marijuana patients with a physician's recommendation, published an online winter sports magazine. They were forced into bankruptcy by the seizures (their computers still haven't been returned) and moved for a while to Orange County. The trial takes place amidst numerous developments on the medical marijuana issue. The Hawaii legislature passed and the governor signed a medical marijuana law last week. Santa Cruz passed new ordinances implementing medical marijuana policies a few weeks ago. Mendocino County voters will vote on a local initiative (advisory only) to decriminalize both medical and recreational marijuana use. While preparing their defense - they will be represented by famed San Francisco defense attorney Tony Serra and top Prop. 215 lawyer Eric Berg - the Kubbys also formed the American Medical Marijuana Association to develop standards and codes of conduct for patients and doctors. They have filed numerous complaints against Placer County and state officials for failing to properly implement Prop. 215, the medical marijuana initiative passed by California voters in 1996. Jury selection is slated to take place this week, with opening arguments tentatively set for May 5. The prosecution says it will take about a month to present its case, while the defense expects its rebuttal, which could feature activists such as Dennis Peron and Jeff Jones of the Oakland cannabis club as witnesses, to take two weeks. The trial's beginning could be delayed by a series of defense motions challenging various aspects of the prosecution's case, from the sufficiency of the warrant used to justify the raid to the legality of the surveillance that preceded it. If any of these motions weaken the prosecution's ability to present a convincing case, the case just might end rather quickly. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk