Pubdate: Sat, 03 Feb 2001 Source: Times-Standard (CA) Copyright: 2001 The Times-Standard Contact: 930 Sixth St. Eureka, CA 95501 Fax: 707-441-0501 Feedback: http://www.times-standard.com/AngEuk_feedback.asp?PUID=5106&SPUID=5106 Website: http://www.times-standard.com/ VERDICT SPLIT IN MARIJUANA CASE EUREKA -- A jury convicted a Bay Area man of transporting about 5 pounds of marijuana but deadlocked on whether his friend was guilty of the same charge. Christopher White, 26, was arrested by the California Highway Patrol Jan. 31, 1999, during a traffic stop. Officers found about 5 pounds of pot in half-pound bags and $9,200 in cash in White's backpack. Also arrested was White's friend Jason Fishbain, who was driving White and his teen-age girlfriend back to the Bay Area after their van broke down in Eureka. Deputy District Attorney Nandor Vadas said the jury convicted White of transportation of marijuana but deadlocked on a charge of possession of marijuana for sale. The jury deadlocked on both charges against Fishbain, a McKinleyville resident. Vadas said White claimed the cash in his backpack was an inheritance from his father. White has one prior felony conviction for transporting marijuana in Southern California, and another drug-related conviction in New York. He faces a maximum penalty of four years in state prison. He is lodged in Humboldt County Correctional Facility. It has not been decided whether Fishbain will be tried again, Vadas said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D