Pubdate: Fri, 24 July 1998
Source: OC Weekly (CA)
Section: A Clockwork Orange
Contact:  http://www.ocweekly.com/ 
Author: Matt Coker

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE: GONE TO POT

David Lee Herrick, who tried unsuccessfully to become the first in Orange
County to base a defense against drug charges on California's
medical-marijuana initiative, was sentenced on July 17 to four years in
state prison. 
The 48-year-old former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy was convicted
in May of selling weed through the Orange County Cannabis Co-op to people
who had obtained doctors' permission to smoke dope under Proposition 215.
But the judge refused to let the jury consider the new law, ruling that it
only allows for marijuana's use, not its sale.  

Co-op founder Marvin Chavez, who's facing his own pot-sales charges, called
the sentence "wrong," noting his nonprofit operation simply gets grass to
sick people because government agencies have failed to do so.  

But Deputy District Attorney Carl Armbrust compared Herrick to "a street
dealer," and Judge William R. Froeberg called him "nothing more than a
marijuana salesman." 

It will be interesting to see if Herrick, who began toking to deal with a
back injury he suffered in the line of duty, will fight to get his pot
prescription filled behind bars. 

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Checked-by: Melodi Cornett