Court Delays Jail Term for Man in Drug Gadgets Case

The state Supreme Court delayed the start of a jail term for a businessman who would have been the first person in California to serve time under a new state law that prohibits selling drug paraphernalia.

Theodore C. Nelson, owner of Penny Lane, a Hollywood Boulevard novelty shop, was to start serving a 30-day jail term on Friday for his 1984 conviction on charges of selling a “bong” used in smoking drugs to undercover Los Angeles police officers in 1983.

The high court granted an emergency request by Nelson’s lawyers to delay the start of Nelson’s jail term. The order, issued Thursday and posted Friday, allows the court additional time to decide whether to hear the case.

Law Called Vague

Nelson’s lawyers contend that the law is unconstitutional because it is vague. They maintain that their client and his salesmen did not know the paraphernalia would be used for illicit purposes, and noted that a sign in the shop said all items sold there were “intended for legal use by the customer.”

Nelson and two salesmen made similar arguments before an appellate division of the Superior Court and a state Court of Appeal, both of which summarily upheld the law earlier this year and ordered Nelson to report to jail.

The controversial law, which went into effect in January, 1983, makes it a misdemeanor to sell paraphernalia which proprietors know or should know will be used to grow, process or injest such illegal substances as cocaine and marijuana.

Among the items seized in raids at Penny Lane were glass pipes, water pipes, scales and kits with razor blades, straws and mirrors.