cannabisnews.com: McWilliams Gives Up Hope for Federal Court 





McWilliams Gives Up Hope for Federal Court 
Posted by CN Staff on February 07, 2003 at 08:02:45 PT
By Marisa Taylor, Union-Tribune Staff Writer 
Source: Union Tribune 
After his arrest on pot charges in October, medical marijuana activist Steve McWilliams vowed to go to trial in federal court. He wanted the chance to argue he had a right to grow marijuana under California's Proposition 215, which allows ill people to grow pot. McWilliams said yesterday he has given up that fight and will accept a plea agreement offered by prosecutors.
He plans to plead guilty today to one felony charge and is expected to admit that he grew 25 plants that drug enforcement agents uprooted from his front yard. "In my heart I wish we could go to court and say: 'Seat a jury. Let's have a fair trial,' " McWilliams said. "More than anything we wanted to tell a jury of our peers about our case. That simply can't happen now." If McWilliams, 48, had gone to trial and had been convicted of two felony charges, he would have faced five to 40 years in prison. According to the proposed plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend no more than six months in prison. McWilliams' lawyer said it's possible his client won't serve any prison time at all. "This is the best deal I've ever been offered by the government," said David Zugman, a former federal defender turned private attorney. "It would be crazy to reject it." Federal prosecutors declined to comment on the case yesterday or to explain what prompted them to cut a deal. McWilliams said he decided to accept the offer because it allows him to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear his legal challenge to medical marijuana prosecutions. Usually when a defendant agrees to plead guilty, the government requires that all appeals be dropped. But in an unusual concession to the defense, federal prosecutors will allow McWilliams to continue his appeal. McWilliams' guilty plea will come just days after the San Diego City Council voted 6-3 to approve guidelines that allow ill people with their doctor's approval to keep as much as one pound of marijuana to ease their symptoms. The guidelines were approved over the objections of Mayor Dick Murphy and Police Chief David Bejarano after a seven-hour public hearing. More than 50 people testified on recommendations drawn up by the Medical Cannabis Task Force. McWilliams was one of the original task force members and was instrumental in pushing for guidelines. Despite the passage of such guidelines in San Diego and other cities, Drug Enforcement Administration agents have vowed to arrest medical marijuana providers in California, describing them as common drug dealers. Agents began cracking down on cannabis clubs last year soon after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is no medical defense against federal marijuana charges. Yet the DEA had already approved research at UCSD on the potential medical benefits of marijuana. The first study will assess whether marijuana helps patients with multiple sclerosis and with nerve damage associated with AIDS. Magdalena Martinez, spokeswoman for the DEA's San Diego office, declined yesterday to comment on McWilliams' expected plea. McWilliams had hoped that if he went to trial, an outraged jury might acquit him after hearing of the conflict between state and federal laws. This tactic, known as "jury nullification," has been used by draft dodgers and tax protesters to argue they should be acquitted because the laws under which they were prosecuted are misguided. In order to mount such a defense, McWilliams' attorney would have had to call witnesses to testify that the pot was being grown by them, not McWilliams, to treat their illnesses. But because of the Supreme Court ruling, the federal judge was unlikely to allow such evidence. Also, federal juries are instructed not to be swayed by their personal feelings when considering a criminal matter. One Oakland activist who took that gamble now faces up to 85 years in prison. After a two-week trial, a federal jury convicted medical marijuana advocate Edward Rosenthal of pot growing charges. He was portrayed as a drug manufacturer and offered little, if any, defense. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer wouldn't allow the defense to present evidence that Rosenthal, 58, was acting as an agent of the city of Oakland's medical marijuana program. After the trial, several jurors said they would have acquitted Rosenthal if they had known the city had licensed him to grow medical marijuana. Jurors planned to send him a note of apology. Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)Author: Marisa Taylor, Union-Tribune Staff Writer Published: February 7, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.Contact: letters uniontrib.comWebsite: http://www.uniontrib.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmMarijuana Activist Seeks Dismissal of Charges http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15239.shtmlPolice Raid Home of Medical Marijuana Activist http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15014.shtmlPot Grower Gets Letter of Warning from DEAhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14191.shtml 
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