Pubdate: Fri, 09 Jul 1999 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Sacramento Bee Contact: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852 Feedback: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html Website: http://www.sacbee.com/ Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html Author: Wayne Wilson Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n699.a04.html ROCKLIN COUPLE FACE RETRIAL ON CONTROVERSIAL POT CHARGES Prosecutors in Placer County announced Thursday they will retry a Rocklin dentist and his wife on marijuana possession-for-sale charges, despite the minority vote they received from a jury at the couple's first trial in May. Deputy District Attorney David H. Tellman obtained a Nov. 9 date for the retrial of the controversial case against Michael W. Baldwin, 36, and Georgia A. Baldwin, 35, who contended that the 146 marijuana plants found at their Granite Bay home Sept. 23 were for medicinal uses. A mistrial was declared May 12 when the prosecution received only 11 of the 24 votes it needed to convict both Baldwins of growing the weed for sale to others. The jury was split, 6-6, in the case against Baldwin but favored acquittal of his wife, 7-5. Tellman and his boss, District Attorney Brad Fenocchio, based their possession-for-sale case on the number of plants being grown and the discovery of a digital gram scale and empty boxes of baggies found in the Baldwins' residence. There was no evidence that the couple actually sold or attempted to sell their crop, Tellman acknowledged during the first trial. Also found at the Baldwins' home last September were letters from a physician recommending marijuana as a treatment for Michael Baldwin's migraine headaches and back pain and for Georgia Baldwin's migraines and endometriosis. Judge James D. Garbolino ruled that the Baldwins were exempt from prosecution for cultivating marijuana under provisions of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. But he said the ballot initiative does not apply to possession-for-sale cases, so he permitted that question to go to the jury. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake