cannabisnews.com: Guru of Ganja Convicted of Marijuana Cultivation





Guru of Ganja Convicted of Marijuana Cultivation
Posted by CN Staff on January 31, 2003 at 15:35:51 PT
By The Associated Press 
Source: Associated Press
A federal jury Friday found Ed Rosenthal, the author of how-to-grow books on marijuana and how to avoid the law, guilty of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges. Deliberating for a day, the 12-member jury concluded that Rosenthal, the self described "Guru of Ganja," was growing more than 1,000 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining a warehouse for a growing operation. He faces a maximum life term when sentenced June 4. 
Several people in the courtroom, including Rosenthal's wife and daughter, wept as the verdicts were read by a court clerk. The verdicts were a victory in the federal government's battle against California's 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana law. Rosenthal's arrest last year was among a string of Drug Enforcement Administration raids on medical marijuana suppliers in California. Under strict orders from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, Rosenthal was never able to tell the jury that he was growing marijuana as "an officer" for the city of Oakland's medical marijuana program. Oakland's program and others throughout California were authorized under Proposition 215. Eight other states also allow the sick and dying to smoke or grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. But federal authorities do not recognize those laws. Source: Associated Press Published: Friday, January 31, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:Green-Aid.comhttp://www.green-aid.com Americans For Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccessnow.orgEd Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmGroundbreaking Pot Trial Wraps Uphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15335.shtmlPot Guru Could Face Life in Jail http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15332.shtml 
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Comment #35 posted by freedom fighter on February 01, 2003 at 09:22:34 PT
Imprint, You asked..
I wonder if any specialists were used in this trial?YES, they do use specialists in selecting jurors. ff
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Comment #34 posted by Patrick on February 01, 2003 at 08:23:15 PT
Who is pulling the strings...
In this insane puppet show?Terror attacks on the date 9/11. 911 being emergency in the minds of America.Officials in Texas dispatched search and rescue teams to the town of Palestine, southwest of Waco, the presumed point of impact.Family members of the shuttle crew, which included the first even Israeli astronaut, were gathered in by NASA officials at the Kennedy Space Center. Israeli astronaut dies over Palestine? Curious script this 21st century is following.
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Comment #33 posted by afterburner on February 01, 2003 at 07:58:30 PT:
Too Bad the Jury Didn't Know Their Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi quotes:"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." "Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good.""One who uses coercion is guilty of deliberate violence. Coercion is inhuman." "Even as a tree has a single trunk but many branches and leaves, there is one religion-- human religion--but any number of faiths." "Democracy is not a state in which people act like sheep." "Democracy necessarily means a conflict of will and ideas, involving sometimes a war . . . between different ideas."ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question."Don't tred on me." (Culpepper Flags)
http://gen.culpepper.com/historical/flag.htmSupport Ed in his appeals:GREEN AID: The Medical Marijuana Legal Defense and Education Fund Postal Mail Box 172 484 Lake Park Avenue Oakland, CA 94610http://www.green-aid.com
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Comment #32 posted by charmed quark on February 01, 2003 at 06:43:57 PT:
I'm shocked
I was sure that the jury would not convict. Unlike some of the previous trials, they knew most of the facts. But they felt obliged to follow the judege's instruction that they should 'ignore their sense of "justice"' and decide only on whether Mr. Rosenthal grew some plants. I can't believe the jurors were so sheep-like.Meanwhile, Mr. Ashcroft continues with his death obsessions. This morning, in the NYT, I read that Mr. Ashcroft reneged on a deal made by a federal prosecutor to a drug informer. The federal procecutor had agrred to seek only life instead of death against an informant/murderer involved in the Columbian drug trade in exchange for testimony. After the informant agreed to cooperate, Ashcroft overturned the agreement and instructed the prosecutor to seek the death penalty against the informant.This should really help his department get future testimonies!-Pete
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Comment #31 posted by The GCW on February 01, 2003 at 05:10:07 PT
this isn't the end but the beginning - Ed.
Vapor WavesIf God gave us cannabis as food and told Us so on the very 1st page of the Bible, who gives us cannabis prohibition? Like Herod hunting for the baby Jesus, there are those who hunt for the baby cannabis.Heart medicine: kaneh bosm."All truth passes through 3 stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
-- Arthur Schopenhauer·	"How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." Adolf Hitler
 
"Most people, sometime in their lives, stumble across truth. Most jump up, brush themselves off, and hurry on about their business as if nothing had happened." - Sir Winston Churchill Back 2K years ago, Jesus Christ inhaled, who did not inhale? What did the people, that did not inhale, do to those who did inhale?
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Comment #30 posted by Nuevo Mexican on January 31, 2003 at 22:25:31 PT
This will backfire bigtime!
Guaran-effing-teed!!!! The conditions for a revolution have to exist before one will take place, and with this charade of a trial, it will be appealed, and one way or another, Ed will not be serving anything but a short period caged with other caged humans for using a plant, growing a plant and helping others in need of that most healing herb ever to exist on the planet. Crime of the century, in the shadow of the 911 cover-up and here you have the completion of the fascist state. But it has to get dark before the light and we are in the darkest of moments! Take heart, tomorrow is an Awesome New Moon in Aquarius, the sign of Revolution, higher consciousness and humanitarism! Make your wish list with Eds freedom at the top, and a change in Regime, and wallah, it will happen as it is in the stars, for a peaceful evolution in consciousness will be taking place in of all places....the U.S.A.! Not so coincidentally, a worldwide series of anti-war demonstrations will be held on the 15th and 16th, the Full Moon, in guess what sign? Very good! Aquarius, so hold on to your hats folks, the time is here for our consciouness to take a flying leap, and move into Unity, and our compassion! Ed is doing the greatest service one can provide, what better person to represent the gift of God that Cannabis represents as explained so elequotly by GCW and others here. Hats of the Ed, may his name become a household word like the Chicago Seven and Abbie Hoffman! 
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Comment #29 posted by Dr Ganj on January 31, 2003 at 21:55:10 PT
What States' Rights?
The jury had their chance to make a change, and they absolutely failed us. How can we expect change when we have such weak minded people as jurors. Tell them to walk off a cliff because it's federal law, and they would. We all lose.
It's now time to think about moving, as it's just going to get worse. What a sad day, indeed. 
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on January 31, 2003 at 21:29:59 PT
freedom fighter
I understand if this is too hard for you or anyone to handle but I try to think how those who have stood and even died for their belief in Cannabis need us to continue. I believe we should always use discretion in what we say on line but the right to disagree with our government is still allowed. I read that Ed said this isn't the end but the beginning. We need to have hope or what about the children and there future? It's a very sad day.
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Comment #27 posted by freedom fighter on January 31, 2003 at 21:15:36 PT
This is so clear now!
We are next!So long!ff
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on January 31, 2003 at 21:04:57 PT
Sad Pictures from Today 
Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articles:
http://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htm
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Comment #25 posted by Patrick on January 31, 2003 at 20:51:34 PT
FREE ED
FREE ED FREE ED FREE ED
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Comment #24 posted by MikeEEEEE on January 31, 2003 at 20:20:41 PT
Another POW
Bush should stop using the word compassion in compassionate conservatism.
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Comment #23 posted by elfman_420 on January 31, 2003 at 20:15:27 PT
FREE ED
must make campaign
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Comment #22 posted by afterburner on January 31, 2003 at 20:08:44 PT:
The God-less-father vs. the Guru of Ganja
Lest we forget:DEA Chief will help run new spy agency http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2813.htmlHutchinson routinely lies about marijuana, especially medical marijuana, and personally supervised California raids last year that attacked medpot growers and providers (including CC grow expert Ed Rosenthal)....Asa Hutchinson is so hard-hearted that he enjoys having his agents steal medicine from, and arrest, sick and dying people. Now that he has even more power and money than when he headed the DEA, what new horrors can Americans expect from their government?There's as yet no word about who will replace Hutchinson at DEA, but whoever ends up running the world's biggest plant-killing agency, one thing is for sure, America is a prison, and its citizens are like rats in a maze, tormented by fascist monsters who crush them if they step out of line.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. WE THE PEOPLE will not let Ed Rosenthal be hung out to dry. In the words of our ancestors, "I have not yet begun to fight.(John Paul Jones) Don't tred on me."
(Culpepper Flags)
http://gen.culpepper.com/historical/flag.htm
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Comment #21 posted by AlvinCool on January 31, 2003 at 19:53:07 PT
Sad Times Ahead
Afterburner and Mayan:Don't you get it yet? The more the states need money the better it is for federalism. You think the government isn't going to want something for giving our own tax money to our states? And just what do you think they want?Cooperation to the federal agenda.And now that they have a presedence for federal law nothing will be sacred. This is truly a turning point in America, although the masses will not see it for years. State law is now, truly, worth a pot of piss.
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Comment #20 posted by Ron Bennett on January 31, 2003 at 19:49:47 PT
Sadly, Not Surprised :(
Sadly, I'm not surprised he was convicted. The Feds don't usually try a case, especially when it involves a well known figure, unless they are damn sure they'll get a solid conviction that will hold-up on appeal.While one can debate CA state law allows this or that, it's mostly irrelevant from a legal aspect.However, one approach, in my view, that could have possibly worked was to mention the University of Mississippi and how they grow cannabis for medical use for several people by order of the U.S. government...and that Ed Rosenthal, working for the cooperative, and others were merely doing the same thing. That alone may have not made any difference in regards to the law for the case against him - but would have given the defense a way to discuss medical cannabis, at least in a limited sense, to the jury; also to make them aware that the U.S. government itself helps supply cannabis to others for medical use.Ultimately, at this point, cooperatives should try to find a way to work with the University of Mississippi...even if it's just correspondence asking questions or what not...even mere dialogue, even if not fruitful, could still be very valuable in a legal defense - and may even be enough to discourage the Feds, at least from going after that particular cooperative(s)...the University of Mississippi program is one the U.S. government would rather people didn't know anything about.State/Federal law defense alone ain't going to do it, in these type of cases, since Federal law will supersede...so one needs to look towards Federal law and how it applies if they hope to mount an effective defense, thus my ramble above.Not all hope is lost...perhaps they can get creative in the appeal, but legal maneuvering in that phase is limited.A last ditch option, if all else fails, may be to do a large-scale public media blitz in hopes of a lighter sentence - here again University of Mississippi is key, in my view...the U.S. government doesn't want the public at-large to know much about it; some in Congress are also unaware/ignorant of the program.How can one do more time for growing a plant than murdering a bunch of people? Congress needs a reality check and stop fighting a war against its own people.Ron Bennett
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Comment #19 posted by Imprint on January 31, 2003 at 19:42:40 PT
Jury slection
I saw a, outside the courtroom, interview with the jury foreman. He said that he supports medical marijuana and that he had voted for 215. He said that several of the jurors supported 215. The way he put it was (I’m paraphrasing); “Based on the rules we were told to follow that was the outcome”. The amount of strategy that must have been played out during jury selection had to interesting. Obviously, the feds. don’t want a maverick or free thinker on the jury. And from what I heard/saw, the jury foreman was no maverick. The rules and guidelines these people are forced to follow are so strict that the outcome is a forgone conclusion. Some how the defense needs to slip in just one juror who is willing to fight the system. The whole process of jury selection is kind of a mystery to me.  I think there are people that specialize in this. I wonder if any specialists were used in this trial? 
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Comment #18 posted by JSM on January 31, 2003 at 19:23:54 PT
Sorrow
Sadly, the outcome of this travesty and show trail was a foregone conclusion. The judge and the prosecuting attorney knew exactly how this would play out as the jury was nothing but a rubber stamp for the government and Mr. Rosenthal did not have a chance as this is the way a kangaroo court works. After seeing Peter McWilliams die as a direct result of the federal court system refusal to recognize the truth, what did anyone expect?  The most anyone can hope for is an absolute sense of outrage over another good man's life being trashed and ruined all because of a insane moral crusade by this government. 
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Comment #17 posted by lag on January 31, 2003 at 19:06:29 PT
I have a feeling...
That when they appeal this case Prop 215 will come out. I mean, it is so clear that there was great obstruction of justice not allowing State Law into the courtroom.What I want to know is...if you are a juror, and you really got riled up because you knew that there was evidence that was missing, that was very relavent to the case, and you refused to go along with the rest of the jury...would they arrest you? I certainly know that I would not be a good juror, since I am all about the spirit of the law. It's why we have courts. This whole thing mirrors the attitude of the Federal government...just as they have weakened the 4th amendment and the judicial oversight to prevent abuse of the system...they have also taken away the powers of justice by allowing key facts to be ignored...I so can't believe this sheeeeeite. I have a feeling that he will faire better in the appeals court.
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Comment #16 posted by The GCW on January 31, 2003 at 18:38:06 PT
- Charles Dickens, "America" - 
"I believe that the heaviest blow ever dealt at liberty's head will be dealt by this nation in the ultimate failure of its example to the earth. " 
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Comment #15 posted by afterburner on January 31, 2003 at 18:36:17 PT:
mayan re-Wrong Path
from: US Central Government is Bankrupting America - Should States Consider Secession? http://www.counterpunch.org/stanton1102.htmlAccording to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities the "states have cut services for those most in need of assistance during an economic downturn. Eligibility has been restricted for health insurance, childcare, and income support services that benefit low-income families. Medicaid benefits have been reduced, job training programs for people trying to move from welfare to work have been cut, and the cost of child care for low-and moderate-income families has been significantly increased. Cuts in funding for public universities have resulted in higher college tuition, shifting the cost of balancing state budgets to students and their parents. Reductions in state aid for public schools and local governments have resulted in school program cutbacks and have to some degree shifted a greater share of the burden of funding schools to local property tax payers. Other reductions in funding have been implemented for state parks, museums, libraries, public health, and public safety."If each state burdened with the costs of federal downloading and the War of Drugs were to legalize and tax cannabis for medical and spiritual use, and send reformers to Washington, D.C., to repeal the Schedule One Lie, then the new economy would blossom.ego destruction (the old world order) or ego transcendence (the new creativity), that is the question.
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Comment #14 posted by p4me on January 31, 2003 at 18:33:18 PT
The origin of the term" Fourth Estate"
CounterPunch has an article titled, "Fourth Estate for Sale: Unfurnished" and is by someone that I have developed an admiration for- Ben Tripp: http://www.counterpunch.org/tripp1031.htmlNow look at all the comments here that could add to the awareness of the American people if a journalist would include anything but outside the fascists' box. Of course prohibition depends on silence first and control of all utterances outside the fascists' box where ever possible, with multiples of lies to truth that does escape fascists' control.I always wondered who spoke of the Fourt Estate first and it was in this article by Ben Tripp. Copy follows.Edmund Burke, the British statesman, is primarily noted in this country (by about 11 historians, very dull company) for his attempts to get King George III to show a little diplomacy with the American colonists during the Revolutionary War. This is all fascinating, I'm sure (I'm not sure at all really) but his most durable contribution to posterity is an observation he made on the role of the journalist in politics, elevating the press to the role of "the Fourth Estate". The 19th Century historian, Thomas 'Chuckles' Carlyle, attributes the following to Burke:Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important than them all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact. . . .Whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law-making, in all acts of authority. It matters not what rank he has, what revenues or garnitures: the requisite thing is that he have a tongue which others will listen to; this and nothing more is requisite.The media sucks. The law is corrupted. It makes a reasonable person wonder if the judge should not be on trial for treason and making a slash in the Constitution.
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Comment #13 posted by Patrick on January 31, 2003 at 17:52:57 PT
This news bites!
Down with Bush and his federal nazi war mongrels
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Comment #12 posted by mayan on January 31, 2003 at 17:42:41 PT
Wrong Path
The U.S. government is completely broke, yet is has the resources to arrest,prosecute & cage a human being for growing plants and helping the sick? This country is headed down the wrong path! The fascists want to start a war with Iraq and they know that when they do chaos will erupt around the world. They will blame the impending economic collapse of this nation on such chaos. Why start a war when the rest of the world is against them? Because their ship is sinking! The cost of every bomb they drop could build a school. Like ignorant children, they cannot accept responsibility for their actions and they will try to take everyone else down with them. A society run by such fools cannot sustain for long. This just migh be the beginning of the end of the Union. US Central Government is Bankrupting America - Should States Consider Secession?
http://www.counterpunch.org/stanton1102.html
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Comment #11 posted by boppy on January 31, 2003 at 17:41:57 PT
ashamed
How do these nazi bastards sleep at night? I am so ashamed of this country. This is our darkest hour.
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Comment #10 posted by lag on January 31, 2003 at 17:25:40 PT
I just don't understand
I live in the Bay Area...how they could find 12 people that all felt that Prop 215 was wrong is beyond me.
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Comment #9 posted by Richard Lake on January 31, 2003 at 17:21:44 PT
Maybe they think we will not notice?
Note: http://www.green-aid.com/ is currently rated as one of the top ten drug policy reform websites based on traffic for the past week. For details use the webform at http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/traffic_rankings.html?p=Dest_W_t_40_R1 
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Comment #8 posted by Richard Lake on January 31, 2003 at 17:19:18 PT:
There is no justice in the war on drugs
Is there any doubt that the federal government determined to undermine the will of the people on this issue? The buyers clubs are being closed or run underground one by one. Federal prosecutors won't permit court testimony concerning why marijuana was used, even though marijuana is permitted as medicine under the laws of California and eight other states. And because juries have no way of knowing otherwise, Federal prosecutors accuse patients and the Good Samaritans who help supply them with their medicine of being "Drug King Pins." But the more they do this stupid sh|# the more activists they create. We will win!Note: for more information and daily updates see http://www.green-aid.com/ 
Please: see ALERT: #260 Stop The Federal Assault On Patients, Clinics & Providers! http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0260.html
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on January 31, 2003 at 17:10:02 PT
Potential LIFE in prison for growing plants.
 Let Me get this straight.Fix the jury.Disallow a fair defense.And lock the cage.My distaste for this Federal scam and persecution, extends beyond the judge and the da.And where are the animal rights groups?If We can recycle trash, We should be able to recycle these laws of persecution.Cannabis persecution is a very serious crime.Ask Our Father.Romans 14:15, For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Gen. 2:9, And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.Proverbs 11:26, He who withholds grain, the people will curse Him, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.These Bible quotes go on and on... 
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Comment #6 posted by delariand on January 31, 2003 at 17:07:30 PT
I am outraged...
This will be looked at as one of the worst injustices ever to occur in the history of the American courts. The judge ordered the defense not to present any evidence related to the true issue at hand, the issue of the federal government overstepping its bounds (defined in the CONSTITUTION, for those who don't know) and trampling the rights of the states. He also violated Mr. Rosenthal's right to free speech, not to mention a fair trial by a jury of his peers. They were so carefully sure to remove anyone who might not agree with their position. And their position?"Considering only the select facts we want you to consider, and ignoring any contradicting what we have told you, did this man break a rule that we defined, and shall we subject him to a punishment of our choosing?"
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Comment #5 posted by afterburner on January 31, 2003 at 17:05:02 PT:
The Schedule One Lie strikes again.
I have one word: APPEAL!ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.Ed needs our help more that ever. Anyone who can afford it, please contribute to his defense fund. GREEN AID: The Medical Marijuana Legal Defense and Education Fund Postal Mail Box 172 484 Lake Park Avenue Oakland, CA 94610http://www.green-aid.com
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Comment #4 posted by aocp on January 31, 2003 at 16:22:55 PT
Whatever happened
to the defense against the federal laws by stating MMJ is obviously for use within the state boundaries and therefore the feds use of the interstate commerce act null and invalid to prosecute people like Ed? Probably taken out in the whole, "See no MMJ, Hear no MMJ, Speak no MMJ" gag order of the judge's.Way to go, feds. You've made a pariah out of a MAN who helped the sick and dying. You've ruined this man and his family's lives and put a dent in the well-being of all who he aided. And guess what? More are going to step up to the plate and take their turn at bat. Your outfield was the compliance of the state forces. As more and more give you the finger and tell you to do your own damn dirty work, you can alienate your policies more and more, with no more than ruined lives and an inability to express compassion for sick people to show for it. Oh, and keep bringing your zealotry to the next generation, like the 8th-grade science whizgirl. You poor morons can't even convince a child that what you're doing is a smidgen correct. Hypocrites...
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 31, 2003 at 15:52:25 PT
Associated Press Expanded Article
There was a little more detail in this AP article so I archived it and am posting it here and will look for more articles.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread15341.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on January 31, 2003 at 15:44:06 PT
I just got this email fromOCBC just as this posted
"Hello Fellow supporters
	Here is the latest news in the Federal trial of Ed Rosenthal.	The outcome of Ed's historic trial has been eagerly awaited and now has come judgement day. The jury of Twelve has come back with this decision of guilty on all there counts. Tuesday Feb. 4th, at 10am Judge Breyer will decide whether to take Ed Rosenthal into custody pending his Sentencing hearing set for June of this year.	Please come and attend the hearing Tue. morning at 10am in Judge Breyer court room on the 19th Fl. at 450 Golden Gate in San Francisco, we can't let them take custody of Ed.	This is wrong and we all must STAND UP NOW to stop this federal trampling of our state lawJeff Jones
	
	If you have not visited the OCBC Legal Defense support page https://www.rxcbc.org/support/ldf_support.php please do so to support the OCBC Federal civil case that has been ongoing since Jan 9, 1998. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law."My opinion is that the jurors were too scared by the repeated "Don't color outside the lines" threats and subtle mentions to feel comfortable looking outside the govmint's tunnel vision for their verdict. I bet each and every juror wouldn't want Ed subjected to what he's going through. But IN THESE TIMES, they don't want to be the next sniper victim...
http://www.rxcbc.org/support/ldf_support.php
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 31, 2003 at 15:37:58 PT
I Feel Sick
This is so hard to believe.
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