Pubdate: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 Source: Scripps Howard News Service Copyright: 1998 Scripps Howard Author: Seth Rosenfeld, San Francisco Examiner S.F. DA DROPS CHARGES AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACKER SAN FRANCISCO -- The district attorney's office has dropped drug and pornography charges against a nationally known medical marijuana advocate, who angrily accused police of deliberately targeting his residence for a raid and slandering him. Richard Evans, 35, was arrested following a Friday night police visit to his residence that police said was initiated by a silent alarm call. But Evans said in an interview that he believes police intentionally triggered the alarm as an excuse to get inside his residence, where they knew he was growing marijuana for medical use. Police completely trashed his apartment, he said, and left one of his four-inch knives lodged in a door in what he feels was a thinly veiled threat. "San Francisco police are rogue agents. It's out of control," said Evans. "I think they were triggering the alarm so they could bust in the back door." Evans also said that police had seized from his apartment two professional art books by renowned San Francisco photographer Jock Sturges, which contained nude images. He vehemently denied possessing any prurient pictures. "The cops slandered me by saying any photograph in my house was pornographic. I say, if they have something pornographic, let's look at it," he said. Evans also said he had a doctor's recommendation for using pot and that he was suspicious of how police came to raid his home. He said he was growing marijuana strictly for medical use. Evans said he learned Tuesday that the district attorney's office had dropped charges of growing marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of child pornography. Lt. Kitt Crenshaw, the officer in charge of the raid, confirmed that the charges against Evans had been dropped. Prosecutors said they wanted to investigate the case further before deciding whether to refile charges, Crenshaw said. Evans said he runs the San Francisco Patients and Caregivers Health Center and was previously director of Americans for Compassionate Use. Evans had recently applied for a city permit to operate a medical marijuana club, Crenshaw said. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake