cannabisnews.com: Selection of Jury in Pot Case Moved Up Selection of Jury in Pot Case Moved Up Posted by CN Staff on January 11, 2003 at 10:36:41 PT By Josh Richman, Staff Writer Source: Oakland Tribune Jury selection for the federal drug trial of pro-marijuana author and activist Ed Rosenthal of Oakland has been moved up due to a judge's concern about public opinion making it hard to find unbiased jurors. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco said Thursday jury selection will start Tuesday rather than next Thursday, leaving two extra days to pick a panel before Rosenthal's trial starts Jan. 21. "He is clearly concerned about the amount of time it's going to take to get a fair and impartial jury," said Bill Simpich, one of Rosenthal's attorneys. Breyer also Thursday denied the last of the pre-trial motions made by Rosenthal's lawyers, which had claimed Rosenthal was entrapped because he thought he had the federal government's tacit consent to grow the drug under California's medical marijuana law. Oakland Chief Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker testified the city's medical marijuana ordinance was meant to protect certified cultivators such as Rosenthal from prosecution. And Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley testified that in his former capacity as an Oakland City Council member, he had visited Rosenthal's cultivation facility and given it his blessing. Both said the federal government never contacted the city to say the ordinance and anyone cultivating marijuana under it were breaking federal law. And an Oakland Police official testified DEA agents with whom he worked on drug investigations also never told him the city or the growers it permitted were in violation. But Breyer found the federal government's silence can't be read as acquiescence, and the federal Controlled Substances Act clearly prohibits marijuana cultivation, possession and use, no matter what California's or Oakland's laws say. "It wasn't sufficient to get a full dismissal of the case, but he didn't rule out the possibility of Ed using it as a defense at trial," Simpich said. Rosenthal, 58, a widely known pro-marijuana activist and author, was among those arrested last February when Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided his home office and other Oakland sites; the Harm Reduction Center medical marijuana club in San Francisco; and the Petaluma home of Harm Reduction Center founder Ken Hayes. The DEA claims in court documents that the Harm Reduction Center, to which Rosenthal allegedly helped supply marijuana, used the state law to mask illegal activity. The case has become a rallying point for medical marijuana activists.Note: Judge also denies last pre-trial motions of activist's lawyers.Source: Oakland Tribune (CA)Author: Josh Richman, Staff WriterPublished: Saturday, January 11, 2003Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: triblet angnewspapers.com Website: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmTrial Looms for Medical Pot Figure from Oaklandhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15149.shtmlDismissal Sought in Medical Pot Case http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15128.shtmlFour Arrested in Connection with Pot Cultivation http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11994.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by The GCW on January 11, 2003 at 12:14:01 PT Fact is, The federal suckers of other people's urine, requires that they find a partial jury. One not swayed or effected by logic, compassion, Truth etc.Cal. voter stats indicate that the majority of Californians support allowing sick citizens and caregivers to grow the superplant. That means the Feds. can not allow one singel average citizen.That means they must find 12 people that are biased in the Feds favor, which is not impartial. The Feds. must locate citizens that do not support the majority and then control thier actions beyond reason. They must word the whole affair in a manner that is unrealistic and disallow any mention of these actual facts.They must corner reasonable humans in the courtroom to only consider the issue in a very narrow light, while keeping them in the dark.They must try to keep the jury from even hearing that Ed has citizen and state approval, which they have done, in the past.And the judge. It takes a special person to go to school to learn to cage humans for using a plant.Perhaps while the Feds. are wishing, they should hope there is not a huge citizen uprising. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by TroutMask on January 11, 2003 at 11:58:42 PT THC... I work in GIS. There are occasionally GIS jobs in Vancouver.-TM [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by TecHnoCult on January 11, 2003 at 11:36:41 PT Programing TM - What kind of programming do you do? You said it was in demand in Canada.THC [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 11, 2003 at 11:34:19 PT TroutMask Yes sir that's even better! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on January 11, 2003 at 11:24:03 PT Even Better... Even better would be they find an impartial jury but that jury aquits Ed Rosenthal. That would send the message that the Feds will not get a conviction in California.-TM [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 11, 2003 at 11:04:06 PT Wouldn't It Be Nice I can dream but wouldn't it be nice if they couldn't find an impartial juror? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment