cannabisnews.com: Judge Railroads Ed Rosenthal in War on Marijuana Judge Railroads Ed Rosenthal in War on Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on February 02, 2003 at 11:56:34 PT By Alexander Cockburn Source: CounterPunch Cowed by a federal judge, a reluctant jury found Ed Rosental guilty last Friday afternoon. Rosenthal remains free on bail, pending sentencing in June. The defense will appeal. Rosenthal faces life in prison.Within hours of finding famed marijuana expert Ed Rosenthal guilty on three felony counts of conspiracy and marijuana cultivation, a sobbing juror was overheard saying she and others jurors had been terrified that US District Judge Charles Breyer would throw them in prison if they had found Rosenthal innocent, although she herself had had a strong disposition to do so. Jury foreman Charles Sackett (a building contractor) told the press after the verdict that he hoped the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court would reverse the verdict and another juror, Marney Craig (a property manager), said "It seems like we made a horrible mistake. I should have stood up and said, 'I'm not convicting.'"Throughout the trial in US District Court in San Francisco, Breyer had refused all efforts by the defense to disclose to the jury that Rosenthal was growing marijuana as an "officer" for the City of Oakland's medical marijuana program, authorized under California's Proposition 215, passed by the voters in 1996. See my report the Right Not to Be In Pain -- http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn01162003.htmlBreyer effectively denied Rosenthal the most basic right of all, that of being able to confront his accusers. The inability to confront your accuser means in essence you have to endure the accusations of the state, without the ability to respond. That's what happened to Rosenthal. The Feds, in the form of the DEA, accused Rosenthal of being a big time marijuana grower, and at no time did Breyer allow Rosenthal or his defense team to explain to the jury that Rosenthal believed his actions to be entirely legal under state law. Among many other outrageous rulings Breyer refused to allow DEA Agent Mike Heald to testify in California at the time of Rosenthal's bust, his federal task force north of the Bay Area "was trying to make the 215 law work," as he told the defense team. "We didn't want to interrupt state legislation."Of course the jury, like all juries, had the right to consult their consciences and set the law aside, but such is the deplorable state of civics instruction today, and such is the dictatorial propensity of judges and the hostility or indifference of elite opinion that the fundamental principle of jury discretion, the foundation stone of freedom is barely known. Hopefully Breyer's brazen rulings and the public support for 215 in California will bring the issue of jury discretion, or nullification, to the fore. For more info the issue of fully informed juries, see FIJA's website -- http://www.fija.org/If a jury picks up on an overwhelming public sentiment, it will often find the courage to do the right thing despite an overbearing judge. There was public sympathy for Rosenthal, but though his supporters worked their hearts out, the wave of necessary outrage on this fundamental issue of states rights and the rights of the accused was not there in necessary force.After dismissing the jury, Judge Charles Breyer said that he would be conducting his own "independent inquiry" into determining whether he could make a "downward departure" on the sentencing, meaning impose less than the minimum sentence mandated by law. Such an inquiry would be to determine Mr. Rosenthal's eligibility for an extraordinary exception to normal sentencingBreyer noted the extraordinary circumstances of the case in rejecting the motion of Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan, Jr. to have Rosenthal placed in immediate detention. Breyer granted Defense Counsel Robert Eye and William Simpich an additional 30 days beyond the normal ten to file their request for a new trial.Breyer also set the sentencing date as June 4, much farther out than is normal. The nearly six months until sentencing should allow enough time for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to decide the appeal of another of Judge Breyer's cases that dealt with a similar question of immunity from prosecution in the context of medical marijuana distribution.If the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Judge Breyer's interpretation of the federal statute, as he himself said they very well might, it would guarantee that Rosenthal's conviction would be overturned. While he was found guilty of all three counts, the most serious chazrge had related to conspiracy to grow more than a thousand plants, and on that count the jury found that he had conspired to grow more than a hundred but less than the thousand the indictment had specified -- a finding defense attorneys counted as a victory. That leaves his conviction for cultivation of more than a hundred plants as the offense with the stiffest penalty, with a sentencing range of from 5 to 40 years and a fine of up to $2 million dollars. Ironically, the jury did set the law aside in declaring Rosenthal guilty of even that number of plants. The defense had introduced as expert witness Dan Weaver of Humboldt county, who testified that the physical evidence offered by the prosecution consisted of plant cuttings without viable root systems. A cutting or even a slightly more developed clone, is not a plant and plants are what the federal statute concerns itself with. The jury inferred that Rosenthal had plants, even though plants were not part of the state's evidence.Complete Title: US Judge Railroads Ed Rosenthal in Fed's War on Medical MarijuanaSource: CounterPunch.org (CA)Author: Alexander CockburnPublished: February 01, 2003Website: http://www.counterpunch.org/Contact: counterpunch counterpunch.orgRelated 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.htmJury Convicts Medical Marijuana Advocate http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15352.shtmlReluctant Jury Convicts Medical Pot Grower http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15350.shtmlThe Right To Not Be in Painhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15205.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by azadvocate413 on February 04, 2003 at 01:05:03 PT: Time has Come Today I'm glad to see there are like minded people residing in the United States! I have read all of the posts here with great interest, and would like to congratulate DA Paul Gallegos for getting Humboldt County and northern California pointed in the right general direction. As responsible adults we can band together and someday have our unified voice heard and acted upon. Although these are the first steps to eventual legalization we still have far to go. The only way that we will be heard is through intelligent conversation or discussions and having a clear plan of legalization and definition of what we want. Definitions of what we want to possess, fines and punishments for stepping outside those boundaries need to be clearly defined before the overall movement can gain ground. NORML should poll its members to come up with a basic set of guidelines similar to those advocated by Paul Gallegos and other DA's in Northern California, and areas where marijuana laws have been relaxed. I think one of the keys to successfully getting legalization is to separate marijuana (and THC-related products) from other drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth and club drugs. As responsible adults, what we are advocating is the use of marijuana with similar privileges (and penalties) to those associated alcohol use. I also think that if stiffer penalties for harder drugs (ones I mentioned) were offered as an olive branch to the government, then a possible dialogue could begin. One other key talking point would be the collapse of the black market. By advocates growing their own, there would be no need for a distribution network (IE black market), unless the government wanted to regulate. Either case would collapse the black market and its attendant crime. But now that they have convicted Ed Rosenthal, in a kangaroo court, this is no longer about being a peaceful pothead. We as Americans have been attacked by our own federal government, with Mr. Rosenthal as the example. The Justice system subverted itself by setting down some very tilted procedures then convicted an innocent man by gagging the truth and railroading the defense and the jury. While Ed Rosenthal may or may not go to prison over it, we Americans that indulge in the joy of marijuana have been indicted along with him. I for one am not ready to have inalienable rights stripped from me because of a self-righteous government in it mis-guided wisdom dictated it. The federal government wants to win the war on drugs? legalize marijuana under a strict set of guidelines, regulate the market if they are so inclined, and then go after the real life destroying drugs and the CRIMINALS that smuggle across our borders. Not the people who are trying to help. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Truth on February 03, 2003 at 10:01:49 PT priorities One things for sure, less money spent on the drug war would leave more money for NASA. I do believe that incarcerating folks over political differences does not bring good karma to us. (or U.S.) [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on February 02, 2003 at 17:53:59 PT afterburner I understand what you mean. I am very sorry for the Shuttle disaster but I am more upset about what just happened to Ed Rosenthal and his family. I believe Astronauts are special people and they know the risks are high that something serious could happen. I'm really sorry about the disaster.The two events for me aren't really able to be compared because one is personally important to many of us and the other is important because space exploration has been a big part of our lives. I wouldn't have satellite tv and Internet if space had never been explored. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by afterburner on February 02, 2003 at 17:26:35 PT: Success: The LTE Was Published on Canada.com See comment #3.I feel like I know Ed Rosenthal better than I know the space shuttle Columbia's astronauts. I share more of his core values regarding medical cannabis. The values of the Columbia 7 are, as yet, unknown to me although I share their interest in outer space exploration. Their suffering was quick and final...a tragedy for their families and friends. Ed trials have just begun...a tragedy for his family and friends. ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. When I first heard about Ed's conviction, I typed "ego destruction or ego destruction..." by mistake. Such is my sadness. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by afterburner on February 02, 2003 at 16:11:20 PT: LTE to Canada.com re: the Shuttle Tragedy As tragic as the crash of the space shuttle Columbia was for the astronauts, their families, and the country; a greater tragedy occured on Fri., 31.Jan.2003, when Ed Rosenthal was convicted of conspiracy and cultivation of cannabis (marijuana) in trumped-up charges, pitting the US federal government's Schedule One Lie against California's Compassionate Use Act. God bless all the victims of these tragedies. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 02, 2003 at 14:39:11 PT Very Strange News Article To Me I just found this article about a young man who died while in a chat. They have chat transcripts and more information on these links. This is very sad. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/56497p-52905c.htmlhttp://dovee.org/http://dovee.org/ripperlog.txthttp://dovee.org/post-ripperlog.txt [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on February 02, 2003 at 13:41:38 PT This article introduced nullification to someone For more info the issue of fully informed juries, see FIJA's website -- http://www.fija.org/This is from what has become my favorite website on the Internet. It has been the lead story for two days now and maybe some of Friday.The one thing that gives away the advocation of prohibition by the newsources is they never mention jury nullification. And as I have said before they cannot inform there readers without mentioning the FIJA website. This article is above anything the NYT or WP is capapble of with their current brownout of anything cannabis and blackout of anything to do with jury nullification.This is an excellent article from an excellent website. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment