Source: Spokesman-Review (WA)
Contact:  http://www.spokane.net:80/
Pubdate: Thu, 02 Jul 1998
Author: Tom Sowa - The Spokesman-Review

MAN RETHINKS GUILTY PLEA IN DRUG CASE

Defendant who has right to legally smoke pot says he doesn't feel he
committed a crime

Spokane _ A Cheney man who smokes pot to ease symptoms of multiple
sclerosis changed his mind in court Wednesday and backed away from entering
a guilty plea to a federal drug charge. Samuel Dean Diana, 49, faces five
federal drug charges after agents raided his rural Cheney home last
December.

Agents say they found more than 170 marijuana plants growing in Diana's garage.

Diana came to court Wednesday originally ready to plead guilty to one count
of maintaining a place where drugs are manufactured and used.

But midway through an afternoon hearing in U.S. District Court, he told the
judge he wasn't sure about pleading guilty.

``I don't feel I've committed a crime,'' Diana told U.S. District Court
Judge Robert Whaley.

After a half-hour discussion with Whaley, Diana had a private conference
with his attorney, Phillip ``Dutch'' Wetzel.

After that recess, Wetzel told Whaley that Diana would likely enter a
guilty plea, but not until July 10.

``I don't know if I have that many options,'' a dejected Diana said after
leaving the courtroom. He has been released on his own recognizance pending
a trial.

Under the original plea deal, four drug charges would be dropped against
Diana, who has smoked marijuana for more than 20 years.

In exchange for the plea, Diana would avoid prison time but would have to
forfeit $53,000 seized from his safe in the December raid of his Cheney
home.

Asked by Judge Whaley about the cash, Diana insisted he deserved it, not
the government.

``That was money I'd saved, in case they decided to charge me with this
kind of charge,'' Diana said during his court hearing.

Diana has had MS since he was 18. He's been allowed to smoke marijuana
legally since winning a breakthrough legal victory in 1981.

In 1977, he was convicted in a Spokane County court of felony drug
possession. Four years later, a Washington appeals court reversed that
conviction, saying Diana had legal reasons for possession of marijuana.

His attorneys have established that for him, marijuana is the most
effective drug for reducing nausea and other symptoms of MS.

Earlier in the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Harrington told
Whaley the government was prepared to show that the $53,000 came from
``income from illegal drug sales.''

Probed by Whaley about that money, Diana said he wished he could use the
$53,000 to ``secure effective counsel and defend myself like I did in the
earlier (state) trial.''

Four other men are facing related drug charges from the December pot
seizure. Diana has said three of them were friends with medical
disabilities who helped cultivate marijuana for his personal use. They are
Ben Francis, Henry Joseph Chiapetta and Larry Spink.

Coming out of court Wednesday, Diana said he planned to testify on behalf
of those friends if they go to trial.

The fourth drug defendant, Guy G. Gardener, was ``a freeloader who did
nothing but come around and smoke pot,'' Diana said.

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Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)