cannabisnews.com: Rosenthal Remains Free as Jurors Decry Verdict





Rosenthal Remains Free as Jurors Decry Verdict
Posted by CN Staff on February 04, 2003 at 12:50:02 PT
By David Kravets, AP Legal Affairs Writer 
Source: Associated Press
In a courtroom crowded with medical marijuana advocates wearing "Free Ed" buttons, a federal judge said Tuesday that convicted marijuana guru Ed Rosenthal is not a flight risk and allowed him to remain free pending his June sentencing. Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer to revoke the bail of Rosenthal, who faces up to an 85-year prison term when he is sentenced June 4. After Breyer refused that request, Rosenthal shook hands and exchanged hugs with many supporters in the courtroom. 
Rosenthal, 58, the self-described "Guru of Ganja," was convicted last Friday of cultivation and other drug charges by a jury that almost immediately questioned its own verdict. Several jurors have said they would have acquitted him had they been told he was growing medical marijuana for the city of Oakland. "I feel like I made the biggest mistake in my life," said juror Marney Craig, a 58-year-old Novato property manager. "We convicted a man who is not a criminal." Other jurors reached Monday by The Associated Press agreed. They plan an unusual gesture: writing Rosenthal to apologize. Five of the jurors were in the courtroom for Tuesday's bail hearing. Some jurors planned a news conference later Tuesday at the federal courthouse. After a two-week trial, the 12-member jury unanimously concluded that Rosenthal, a world-renowned marijuana advocate, was growing more than 100 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining an Oakland warehouse for a growing operation. He was painted as a major drug manufacturer and put on little defense. The jury was not told that Rosenthal was acting as an agent of the city of Oakland's medical marijuana program, which was an outgrowth of a 1996 medical marijuana initiative approved by California's voters. "I really feel manipulated in a way," said juror Pam Klarkowsky, a 50-year-old Petaluma nurse. "Had I known that information, there is no way I could have found that man guilty." Throughout the two-week trial, Rosenthal's defense team repeatedly tried to call witnesses to testify that Rosenthal was growing medical marijuana. The judge denied those requests. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the judge twice during mid-trial appeals. After the verdicts were read, Rosenthal called Breyer's courtroom a "kangaroo" court. Still, legal experts said Judge Breyer, brother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, had federal precedent on his side when excluding defense witnesses. "A bank robber is not allowed a defense that he was stealing money for his starving children, even if he was," said Rory Little, a Hastings College of the Law professor. "The general principle is: Motive is not a defense to a crime." Also backing Breyer, experts say, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago prohibiting advocates for the sick and dying from doling out marijuana to those with a doctor's recommendation. That decision prompted a string of raids on medical marijuana growing operations throughout California. In addition, the federal government does not recognize the medical marijuana laws in nine states that have them. Even so, some of the jurors on Rosenthal's case feel duped. Juror Debra DeMartini, a 45-year-old Sonoma restaurant manager, said she would have acquitted had she known what the media was reporting during the trial. Breyer ordered the jury not to listen, read or watch any news accounts of the trial. "I'm hearing all of these things after the fact," she said. "That sheds a whole new light on it." Jury foreman Charles Sackett, 51 of Sebastopol, said he hopes Rosenthal's case is overturned on appeal. "Some of us jurors are upset about the way the trial was conducted in that we feel Mr. Rosenthal didn't have a chance and therefore neither did state's rights or patient's rights," the landscaper said. "I would have liked to have been given the opportunity to decide with all the evidence." David Kravets has been covering state and federal courts for a decade. Complete Title: Rosenthal Remains Free as Pot Case Jurors Decry Their Own Verdict Source: Associated Press Author: David Kravets, AP Legal Affairs Writer Published: Tuesday, February 04, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Green-Aid.comhttp://www.green-aid.com Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmPot-Trial Jurors Express Angerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15369.shtmlMedical Pot Jury May Speak Out http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15361.shtmlJury Left in Dark at Marijuana Trial http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15359.shtml 
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Comment #17 posted by John Osbourne on February 06, 2003 at 13:18:18 PT:
Tenth Amendment
Please note that when Mr. Rosenthal takes his case to another court on appeal, he is widely expected to lose on the argument that the federal government believes it's authority doth exceed that of the states. The problem with that basic notion is that the constitution provides a simple remedy for matters of competing soveriegnty issues between the people, states, and the federal government. To wit; TENTH AMENDMENT - The Tenth Amendment provides that, 
" The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." 
It would appear at casual glance that the feds have overstepped their authority not only in this case, but multifold other areas of dispute. I say hire Gerry Spence to try the case against the tenth amendment and let the walls come a tumblin down. 
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on February 04, 2003 at 21:46:52 PT
Imprint 
Thanks Imprint! I sent a note and a link to this thread to Matt. He might be able to help.
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Comment #15 posted by Imprint on February 04, 2003 at 21:34:53 PT
Contact Gene
His eamil address is: geneburns2 yahoo.com 
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on February 04, 2003 at 21:28:14 PT
Imprint
Thank you! I'm still listening to the program even though it isn't about Jury Nullification now. He needs a webmaster to help him with his web site. Maybe Matt Elrod could help him. How would it be best to contact him so I could pass this on to Matt?
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Comment #13 posted by Imprint on February 04, 2003 at 21:20:35 PT
Someone is stepping forward on nullification
For those of you who listened, I though it was funny when the very first caller wanted to use the “fed law trumps state law” argument, Gene Burns called him, “A four-locked tugger to the established order”. What an elegant way to call someone a coward. His program is three hours long and he gave the subject two full hours. In the Bay Area, KGO-810 is the largest AM station; that’s a large listening audience.  Sometimes Gene drives me crazy but tonight he was right on. Anyway, he seems pretty solid on wanting to work with the various radio talk show hosts across California to educate the public about this subject. To let jurors know you can vote “not guilty”. And if asked why, they can simply say, “They are voting their conscious”. He said he was willing to organize a lot of this effort. Things like nightly reminders (during his show) of the “nullification movement”, working with other stations and talk show hosts, possible creation of a web site for the movement and so on. This sounds real cool to me. I hope NORML (Calf. and national) becomes involved in this. 
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on February 04, 2003 at 19:59:47 PT
Related Article from the Associated Press
Jurors Who Convicted Marijuana Advocate Feel They Were Denied Key Evidence Angela Watercutter, Associated Press WriterTuesday, February 4, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Associated Press A marijuana advocate and the jury that convicted him are making an unexpected show of solidarity: Jurors claim they were misled and the defendant says it isn't them he blames. Ed Rosenthal, the self-described "Guru of Ganja," was allowed Tuesday to remain free on $500,000 bail until his June 4 sentencing on federal drug violations. Outside court, Rosenthal told supporters that he had "no regrets. ... Both the jury and I were victims of persecution, of an illegal government action." Jurors said they felt cheated because they weren't allowed to hear that Rosenthal supplied Oakland's medical marijuana program, an outgrowth of a 1996 medical marijuana initiative that conflicts with federal law. "I feel like I made the biggest mistake in my life," juror Marney Craig said. "We convicted a man who is not a criminal." Other jurors reached Monday agreed and planned to write to Rosenthal to apologize. After a two-week trial, the 12-member jury unanimously concluded Friday that Rosenthal was growing more than 100 plants, conspired to cultivate marijuana, and maintained an Oakland warehouse for a growing operation. He was portrayed as a major drug manufacturer. Rosenthal's defense repeatedly tried to call witnesses to testify that he was growing marijuana for medical use. The judge denied those requests and was backed up twice during the trial by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Legal experts said U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer had federal precedent on his side. "A bank robber is not allowed a defense that he was stealing money for his starving children, even if he was," said Rory Little, a Hastings College of the Law professor. Jury foreman Charles Sackett said he hopes Rosenthal's case is overturned on appeal. "Some of us jurors are upset about the way the trial was conducted. ... I would have liked to have been given the opportunity to decide with all the evidence." 
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on February 04, 2003 at 19:36:03 PT
Imprint
I just got connected and it is good so far. I hope it goes on for a while. Thanks!
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Comment #10 posted by Imprint on February 04, 2003 at 18:56:26 PT
7:05PM
Yep, 7:05 Pacific Time. Starts in about 10 min's. 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on February 04, 2003 at 18:52:03 PT
Imprint
7:05 PT? If so I will make sure I check it out. I did listen to the radio today for awhile but they weren't talking about Ed and I was sorry I missed it.
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Comment #8 posted by Imprint on February 04, 2003 at 18:42:25 PT
Info 2
Just announced on KGO (see earlier post).   7:05PM they will discuss jury nullification with regard to Ed Rosenthal and medical marijuana. The talk show host wants to educate the public to nullify any federal marijuana case as a way to fight back. Sounds good to me. 
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Comment #7 posted by mayan on February 04, 2003 at 18:00:43 PT
THE WHOLE TRUTH
I don't know what I would do without C-News! This story has been totally blacked-out in the local media. It should be on the front page of every paper in the country!"A bank robber is not allowed a defense that he was stealing money for his starving children, even if he was," said Rory Little, a Hastings College of the Law professor. "The general principle is: Motive is not a defense to a crime."But a bank robber is encouraged to tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth", aren't they? According to these regretful jurors, the "whole truth" would've saved Ed's ass! This country is going down the tubes real quick. The way out is the way in -Kaminski's Best 9/11 Sites — 4th Edition:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0302/S00024.htm9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge9/11 Truth Alliance: http://unansweredquestions.org/alliance/index.htmlThe 9/11 Investigative Community:
http://www.falloutshelternews.com/911Community.htmThe People's Investigation of 9/11: http://www.911pi.com/The 9/11 Truth Movement - Selected Resources for Researchers and Activists: http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/LEV212A.htmlThe Incident - by Harry Browne:
http://harrybrowne.org/articles/Incident.htm
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on February 04, 2003 at 16:52:34 PT
FOX News with Shepard Smith - Medical Marijuana 
It's about Ed and medical marijuana. Nothing on the web site so far but we just saw the preview! Hope you can catch it.http://www.foxnews.com/foxreport/index.html
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Comment #5 posted by p4me on February 04, 2003 at 16:07:17 PT
The hardest thing in life to say is "I am wrong.&q
"I really feel manipulated in a way," said juror Pam Klarkowsky, a 50-year-old Petaluma nurse. "Had I known that information, there is no way I could have found that man guilty." The ego is the decider in your life and the ego rules because of its claim to chose the right path. This mans ego realizes he was mislead and he feels the pain of being wrong. "I am wrong" is too hard for him to say, but he can angrily displace his wayward decision on the courts that pushed him down the wrong path.The Alexa cannabisnews rating was 44,354 a few minutes ago. This is up from Saturday's ranking of 45,696. The last week average put Cnews at 39,439.
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Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on February 04, 2003 at 14:44:27 PT
prosecutors=evil
How many bank robbers are deputized by the city of Oakland?
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Comment #3 posted by Darwin on February 04, 2003 at 14:39:47 PT
stealing
Stealing also has a victim, whereas growing and smoking pot does not have a victim.
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Comment #2 posted by delariand on February 04, 2003 at 14:29:38 PT
...
"A bank robber is not allowed a defense that he was stealing money for his starving children, even if he was," said Rory Little, a Hastings College of the Law professor. "The general principle is: Motive is not a defense to a crime." Mr. Little, you are an idiot. Your example has nothing to do with the real issue here. If California passed a law which said it was legal to steal, as long as you were doing it to feed your starving children, THEN your situation would apply. However, this is not the case. Stop trying tod isguise the real issue, which is the fact that federal law DOES NOT APPLY to this marijuana. If you took the time to read the constitution, you'd see that since the marijuana was grown within the state, only state law applies to it, and the feds are violating the constitutional rights of not only Ed Rosenthal but the entire state of California. The general principle is, the entire war on drugs is rife with violations of individual rights, corrupt from it's highest officials down to it's lowliest shock troops, and it needs to be stopped.I only wish I could say this to the guy face to face... I hope he somehow reads it.
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Comment #1 posted by Imprint on February 04, 2003 at 13:09:36 PT
Info 
For those of you that don’t live in the Bay Area but might be interested in the local opinion on the Ed Rosenthal trial, there is a local radio station called KGO 810. It’s a news/talk station. The morning talk show host Gene Burns talked about the Ed Rosenthal trial. There was a lot of interesting discussion on this. Anyway, KGO has a web site ( http://www.kgoam810.com/ ) and they broadcast over the Internet (click on “listen now” button). There hourly news has covered the story and there is several more talk show hosts to go today. I’m pretty sure some of these folks will talk about the Ed Rosenthal trail. They take calls from all around the country so you could call and give your opinion as well. 
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