2 sought in "bounty' killings Medical pot case to return to court

Marin DA to retry doctor after first jury was split

Donna Horowitz
REUTERS SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

SAN RAFAEL

SAN RAFAEL The Marin County district attorney has decided to
retry a closely watched medical marijuana case unless some new
information from the defense persuades prosecutors to change tack.

A jury failed to reach a verdict in the first trial of Dr. Alan
Ager on Aug. 20. Ager, who says he smokes marijuana to ease back
pain, was charged with one count of cultivation after sheriff's
deputies seized 135 marijuana plants from his Nicasio property last
September two months before voters passed Proposition 215, the
state law legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Prosecutors plan to announce a decision on retrying the case
against the Marin podiatrist at a Marin County Superior Court
hearing Wednesday.

"This is a total waste of taxpayers' money," said Maureen Kallins,
the new attorney representing Ager. "Seventyfour percent of Marin
County voted for Prop. 215. This is clearly a medical marijuana
issue."

She added: "(Assistant District Attorney) Paula Kamina is not
responsive to her constituency. It's abominable and it's a burden
on the life and liberty of Dr. Ager, who is an honest man."

Kamina, the secondincharge at the district attorney's office,
responded, "We are trying to apply the law as the people voted for
it. The issue is not whether he had a medical condition. It's
whether (the marijuana is) for personal use or not."

The prosecutor in the case had argued that 135 plants were more
than anyone needed for personal use.

Kamina said the Legislature needs to resolve the issue specifying
the appropriate amount for personal use. The guidelines from the
state attorney general say several marijuana plants should be
sufficient for a person's medical needs, she said.

If the Legislature intended for people "to grow large amounts to
stow away for the winter," Kamina said, lawmakers need to clarify
the issue.

Kamina said her office decided to retry the case unless it heard
anything new Tuesday afternoon during a meeting with Ager's former
attorney, Laurence Lichter, that would change the prosecutors'
minds.

At the first trial, believed to be the first time a medical
marijuana case has gone to a jury in the state, the jury voted 102
to convict Ager. A unanimous vote is needed for a verdict.

Asked what she would do differently in a new trial, Mill Valley
attorney Kallins said: "I think I'll be explaining the case in a
different fashion. . . . I'll communicate it so that people in the
jury understand that Dr. Ager is an honest man. He is no more a
drug dealer than they are and he's a man with a horrendous health
problem."