cannabisnews.com: Groundbreaking Pot Trial Wraps Up





Groundbreaking Pot Trial Wraps Up
Posted by CN Staff on January 31, 2003 at 09:56:33 PT
By J.K. Dineen of The Examiner Staff
Source: San Francisco Examiner 
The bizarre trial of marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal ended Thursday just as it had begun: with the judge and the prosecution pounding into the jury's consciousness everything they were not allowed to consider in rendering their judgment.  The jury was told not to consider that Rosenthal was growing pot to help sick people; not to consider California state law; not to consider that Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley said he served with Rosenthal on an Oakland City Council committee working to implement the state's medical marijuana law.
Instead, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan instructed the jury to stick to the mother plants and clones that were found growing in a commercial building Rosenthal admits he bought to experiment with different strains of medicinal marijuana.  "Every marijuana plant that comes out of Mandela Parkway -- that is a federal offense," Bevan told the jurors in his closing statements. "That is what we're holding Mr. Rosenthal responsible for -- not anything more and not anything less."  While the defense attorneys mounted an argument that the government had failed to adequately document the plants they pulled from Rosenthal's warehouse, they simultaneously attempted to insinuate the concepts medical marijuana and states rights into the proceedings.  In his closing statement, defense attorney Robert V. Eye recalled the testimony of medical pot club owner Bob Martin, who testified reluctantly after being subpoenaed by the government. He reminded the jury that Martin had referred to marijuana plants as medicine.  "That gives us some guidance,'' Eye told jurors before Breyer could break in with, "You are not to consider the purpose for which the marijuana was grown. Federal law prohibits cultivation of marijuana.''  At one point Eye also asked why Martin was allowed to openly -- and proudly -- operate several medical pot clubs while prosecutors threw the book at Rosenthal.  "So we prosecute Mr. Rosenthal and allow Mr. Martin to open a marijuana dispensary?" asked Eye. "How can we reconcile those two things?"  But in his rebuttal, Bevan called the Martin argument "a red herring" and warned the jury not to consider Martin's statement that he had opened a dispensary to "take care of sick people."  "You could say he's violating the law, why isn't he on trial? Well that's not for you to consider," said Bevan. "This is a federal courtroom, not a polling place. You're not acting as congressmen and congresswomen."  Rosenthal did not take the stand in his own defense.  "The best way for me to testify, if I had testified, would be with a piece of duct tape over my mouth," Rosenthal said during the morning break.  But while Rosenthal continued the defiance he had maintained through the trial, he also appeared to be a little apprehensive. He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life if convicted of the marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges.  "I'm very, very nervous," said Rosenthal as he stood with his wife Judy and his two children.Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)Author: J.K. Dineen of The Examiner StaffPublished: January 31, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Francisco ExaminerContact: letters sfexaminer.comWebsite: http://www.examiner.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Green-Aid.comhttp://www.green-aid.com Americans For Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.orgEd Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmMedicinal Pot Grower's Case Goes To Jury http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15334.shtmlJudge Keeps Tight Rein on Pot Trial http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15333.shtmlPot Guru Could Face Life in Jail http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15332.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by charmed quark on January 31, 2003 at 15:10:09 PT:
Rosenthal will get off
I'd be nervous, too. But the prosection really blew it. First, trying to prosecute anybody in the Bay Area is going to be difficult. Then, they couldn't keep the jury from knowing it was about medical marijuana. They even screwed up by trying to imply that Rosenthal was keeping the garden secret. This let the defense to bring in witnesses to prove the garden wasn't secret, such as a DEA agent to testify about being asked what the Feds would.The jury ended up pretty much knowing all the facts, in spite of the judge.The question is whether the jury will aquit or deadlock.Keep your fingers crossed.-pete
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Comment #7 posted by fivepounder on January 31, 2003 at 15:10:01 PT
fascism knows no end
oops this was meant for the next article
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Comment #6 posted by fivepounder on January 31, 2003 at 15:05:01 PT
fascism knows no end
One day they will list every country except the usa as a 'drug producing country.' The drug used most here in amerika is weed and most of that is grown here so WE are the world's largest drug producing country. Is there any end to their stupity?
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Comment #5 posted by p4me on January 31, 2003 at 12:44:40 PT
Ron Paul Of Texas said on Jan. 29...
Here is the link to Ron Paul's text tiltled, "Sorry, Mr. Franklin, “We’re All Democrats Now”: http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr012903.htmThe subject of this has to do with a majority rule dictating rights to everyone in violation of the rule of law that protects our freedoms under the Constitution. Two paragraphs are copied below.But today, the American people accept drug prohibition, a policy as damaging to liberty as alcohol prohibition. A majority vote in Congress has been enough to impose this very expensive and failed program on the American people, without even bothering to amend the Constitution. It has been met with only minimal but, fortunately, growing dissent. For the first 150 years of our history, when we were much closer to being a true republic, there were no federal laws dealing with this serious medical problem of addiction.Further down in this long text Ron Paul says:Most of the damage to liberty and the Constitution is done by men and women of good will who are convinced they know what is best for the economy, for others, and foreign powers. They inevitably fail to recognize their own arrogance in assuming they know what is the best personal behavior for others. Their failure to recognize the likelihood of mistakes by central planners allows them to ignore the magnitude of a flawed central government directive, compared to an individual or a smaller unit of government mistake.He also quotes a paragraph from C. S. Lewis that says:“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
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Comment #4 posted by TroutMask on January 31, 2003 at 11:51:27 PT
Prime...
No, Prime. There are no major drug countries where the people are primarily English-speaking caucasians. There is probably an income level requirement too. If you are a rich white country, by default you are not a major drug producer. It's not in the law but it might as well be.-TM
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Comment #3 posted by Prime on January 31, 2003 at 11:25:20 PT
Canada?
I thought the RCMP told JP Waters that BC was making a $5 billion a year profit from the deadly BC Bud, which in 12674% THC and 5645694845% stronger that the Wacky Tabacy your Father was injecting.Hmmm... maybe they just forgot, or, could some other world event maybe have caused that slip.Good thing this list isnt politicized, that would be bad foreign policy.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 31, 2003 at 11:17:55 PT
Whitehouse Press Release
For Immediate Release: Office of the Press SecretaryJanuary 31, 2003 Presidential Determination No. 2003-14 SUBJECT: Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for 2003 Pursuant to section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107228) (FRAA), which was enacted on September 30, 2002, I hereby identify the following countries as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam. The Majors List applies by its terms to countries. The United States Government interprets the term broadly to include entities that exercise autonomy over actions or omissions that could lead to a decision to place them on the list and, subsequently, to determine their eligibility for certification. A country's presence on the Majors List is not necessarily an adverse reflection of its government's counternarcotics efforts or level of cooperation with the United States. Consistent with the statutory definition of a major drug transit or drug producing country set forth in section 481(e)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA), one of the reasons that major drug transit or drug producing countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographical, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced despite the concerned government's most assiduous enforcement measures. SnippedComplete Press Release: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-7.html
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 31, 2003 at 10:21:21 PT
Just a Comment
Why I'm waiting and hoping I really am concerned about states rights. I'm worried that states won't have any rights soon and that is really scary to think about. I really hope the jury understands the importance of following their heart. Freedom is at stake.
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