Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register Pubdate: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 EDITORIAL: NO PROP. 215 DEFENSE Marvin Chavez's trial on charges of marijuana sales continued Thursday in West Orange County Court in Westminster. The first business was the conclusion of a preliminary evidentiary hearing involving Shirley Reaves of Chico, to whom Mr. Chavez allegedly sent marijuana through the mail. Judge Thomas Borris then announced that a "Prop. 215" defense - an instruction to the jury that the circumstances warrant a defense because of their medical and/or caregiver nature - would not be allowed on any charges, including those involving Shirley Reaves. He did allow the defense to lay a foundation, however, to claim illegal entrapment by investigators in four of the 10 charges. The cross-examination by defense attorney David Nick of undercover investigator Joseph Moreno, who posed as a man with chronic back pain to induce Mr. Chavez to furnish marijuana to him, concluded with certain interesting admissions. Mr. Nick reinforced the fact that Mr. Moreno at first said he didn't think he had any written notes of his conversations with Mr. Chavez, but such notes did indeed exist. Mr. Moreno had said that the plan at the outset of the investigation was to tape record all conversations with suspects, but it turned out some conversations had not been tape recorded. Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust then played the tape of a phone conversation between Mr. Moreno and Mr. Chavez, in which Mr. Moreno said he was "bedded down" with pain and wanted to send his "cousin" (another undercover officer) to get some "medication." The next witness was Gregory Hoffer, who testified that he did have a valid recommendation from a licensed physician for marijuana for pain due to chronic back troubles, pain, and that he asked Mr. Chavez to furnish him marijuana. He said Mr. Chavez met him and agreed to do so after he showed his physician's letter, his drivers license and filled out some forms. The prosecution emphasized that money as well as marijuana changed hands in that meeting. The defense emphasized that the money was viewed by both parties as a donation to the co-op Mr. Chavez had founded. After the jury was out of the courtroom, defense attorney Nick reminded Judge Borris that the court had the option of dismissing the charges "in the interests of justice" and urged Judge Borris to do so. Judge Borris declined the invitation. The afternoon was taken up mostly with questions about Jack Shachter, slated to be the defense's main witness. Mr. Shachter is facing, in a separate action, marijuana-selling charges due to be considered in December, and his attorney, public defender Claudia Gaona, has advised him not to take the stand in the Chavez case. Mr. Shachter still wants to testify. So the defense has offered to prepare the questions it intends to ask, present them to Ms. Gaona, and let her give Mr. Shachter more informed advice on Monday - when the trial resumes. We'll be there. This case has the potential to be instrumental in developing guidelines for the implementation of Prop. 215. It will be fascinating to see how the jury responds to the complex information it has received, some of which it may well be told to disregard in its deliberations. - --- Checked-by: Don Beck