SAN DIEGO -- A judge ruled the identity of a deputy district attorney who has admitted to being a member of a marijuana collective must be released, 10News reported.

On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney James Pitts confirmed his membership in the now defunct Amsterdam Alternative Care. The collective was one of several shut down after being raided last September.

San Diego resident and Navy veteran Jovan Jackson is being charged with several counts involving possession of medical marijuana and the sale of medical marijuana. If found guilty, Jackson could spend several years in prison.

San Diego defense attorney Gretchen von Helms said it's easy to see why Jackson's defense wants to call Pitts as a defense witness.

"If the defense attorney can say, 'Look, my client's just doing what your deputy DA's are doing,' how in the heck do you prosecute someone like this? That's a great strategy for the defense attorney," said von Helms. "What you want to show is that all sorts of normal people utilize medical marijuana. They do so as lawfully as they can."

Medical marijuana advocate Terrie Best said she hopes that San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis feels embarrassed by the revelation about one of her own.

"As an activist in San Diego, I'm all about embarrassing the DA right now because she's acting in an embarrassing manner," Best told 10News.

von Helms says there's no doubt Dumanis is not happy about this turn of events.

"They are standing up there prosecuting these types of cases, marijuana cases in general, and to have one of their own using medical marijuana is probably not something they're happy with," said von Helms.

The defense told 10News that Pitts will probably be back on the stand next week when he's called as one of their witnesses in the case against Jackson.