Eugene Davidovich Court Date to be set July 27

Medical cannabis patient Eugene Davidovich was in court yesterday for his preliminary hearing. Dozens of supporters were on hand inside and outside the courtroom. Local groups Hope Unlimited, San Diego Americans for Safe Access and SanDiegoMarijuana.com were on hand to support Eugene. Hollywood's Henry Hemp also came to San Diego to witness the continued war on medical marijuana in San Diego.

Supporters rallied in the streets in front of the courthouse while Eugene waited two hours to be assigned a judge and courtroom. Eugene's case was heard by Judge John Thompson in front of a packed courtroom. Nearly all of the people attending the case were friends, family, and supporters of Mr Davidovich.

Eugene's attorney Michael McCabe presented a positive medical marijuana defense and had expert witness Chris Conrad testify. Mr Conrad was one of the original drafters of Proposition 215 that legalized medical marijuana. He testified that the way Eugene had operated his collective was acceptable under state law. Mr Conrad was cross-examined by a seemingly inexperienced prosecutor from the DA's office. Her questions to Mr Conrad demonstrated a lack of medical marijuana understanding. At one point in her questioning she stumbled over the word 'clone'. She did not appear to realize that a clone is a marijuana plant, which generated laughter in the crowd.

Judge John Thompson did not tolerate much noise from the large crowd. Repeated warnings were made not to tape the proceedings. At one point the judge warned that if he could hear a comment from the bench he would throw that person out of the courtroom. However, no one was thrown out. The judge spent most of his time overruling objections from the prosecution. Objections to Mr Davidovich's medical records being included, objections to expert testimony, objections to questions about how the San Diego District Attorney has targeted medical marijuana.

While Eugene's attorney was successful in having Eugene's medical records introduced as evidence and having expert Chris Conrad testify he was not able to have the case thrown out. This means that Eugene will have a court date set on July 27th. SDNN is following the story.

Eugene's Post on SDNN

News 6 Coverage

San Diego's war on medical marijuana continues...