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Medical Pot Case Goes To Court

A preliminary exam was held Friday in 51st District Court for about 20 people who were arrested in drug raids late last summer.

Raids occurred at Metro Detroit growing operations and dispensaries where officers used fake medical marijuana cards to gain entry.  Six attorneys are representing those charged, many arrested at Everybody's Cafe in Waterford.

Two attorneys who are defending people arrested in the Aug. 25 raids say they believe their clients will be acquitted and that Oakland County is wasting taxpayer money on this case.

Defense attorney Neil Rockind said a prosecution witness who was a grower and faces several charges himself, didn't hurt their case.

"What he said was that everybody in the case, everybody that he came into contact with, believed that they were complying with the law. My client believed that he was complying with the law; the witness said that he believed that he was complying with the law," Rockind said.

Rockind said, for him, this case isn't only about defending his client.

"For many of us, this is a fight defending the medical marijuana law and defending the right of the people who passed that law and then attempt to abide by it," he said.

Rockind believes the case will eventually be dismissed. The Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor would not comment.

The preliminary exam is expected to continue after Thanksgiving.

(Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio.  All Rights Reserved.)

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