See
Silicon Valley
Weekly Demolishes Case Against Peter Baez; This Is Not Virtual Injustice; It Is The Real
Thing
and
San Jose Police
Begin Smear Campaign Against Peter Baez; Claiming Club’s Mark-up Excessive
and
San Jose
Protesters In Wheelchairs Denounce Baez’s Arrest; Ask City to Back Medical MarijuanaSan
Francisco Chronicle
chronletters@sfgate.com
http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
July 9, 1998
By Maria Alicia Gaura, Chronicle Staff Writer
EX-POT CLUB DIRECTOR GATHERS TOP LAWYERS
Faced with criminal drug charges and a lengthy prison term, the director of San
Jose’s now-defunct medical marijuana club has assembled a legal "Dream
Team" to present his defense.
Attorneys Gerald F. Uelmen and Tom Nolan appeared for marijuana advocate Peter Baez
yesterday in a Santa Clara County courtroom.
Uelmen, a law professor and former dean of Santa Clara University
School of Law, and an expert on constitutional law, has defended clients as varied as O.J.
Simpson and Daniel Ellsberg. Nolan, a criminal defense attorney based in Palo Alto, is
widely considered one of the best in his field.
Neither attorney would comment on the case yesterday, but their appearance in the fray
has sparked speculation that the Baez trial may have precedent setting potential.
Baez was founder of the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center that opened in early
1997 and closed May 8. The Santa Clara County District Attorney filed seven felony counts
against Baez in May, charging him with selling marijuana to people lacking a doctor’s
recommendation, operating a drug house, grand theft and housing fraud. Before his legal
troubles began, Baez had been lauded by city officials for his efforts to help create a
medical marijuana ordinance in San Jose.
See
San Jose Closing: "The
biggest death is that of the spirit of giving, and that of every sick and dying patient in
our county."
Deputy District Attorney Denise Raabe said she expected the issues at trial to be narrowly
limited to Baez’s alleged drug trafficking violations. But many others in the medical
marijuana movement hope the jury will be allowed to consider broader issues related to
Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana use in California.
In addition, some local attorneys speculated that prominent local officials, including
Mayor Susan Hammer and former San Jose Police Chief Lou Cobarruviaz, might be called to
the stand to testify about San Jose’s unique marijuana dispensary law, bringing
publicity to the issue. Kate Wells, a Santa Cruz attorney who worked with Uelmen to defend
a marijuana club charged in federal court last year, said Uelmen is intrigued by the
evolving area of drugs and the law.
Uelmen is also part of the legal team currently defending six Northern California
marijuana clubs in federal court.
"This is frontier law we’re making here," Wells said. "It’s
always exciting for an attorney to be in on the ground floor of breaking legal
ground."
Baez’s trial, originally slated to begin Monday, has been postponed until
September 28.
1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A22
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