cannabisnews.com: Pair Face New Pot Charges





Pair Face New Pot Charges
Posted by CN Staff on May 24, 2003 at 07:47:59 PT
By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Source: San Bernardino County Sun 
Victorville - A couple with two High Desert homes are at the center of state and federal authorities' battle over medical marijuana use. Gary Barrett, 34, and his wife, Anna Barrett, 32, were arrested Wednesday by Drug Enforcement Administration agents on suspicion of marijuana cultivation after a federal indictment alleged they cultivated more than 700 plants at their homes in San Bernardino and San Luis Obispo counties.
The May 13 indictment against the couple, who for years have advocated the medical use of marijuana, came four days after Victorville Superior Court Judge Stephen Ashworth acquitted them on marijuana cultivation charges, ruling they were legitimate medical marijuana users according to California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996, under Proposition 215.The seven-page federal indictment charges the couple with five counts of conspiring to cultivate and cultivating marijuana, and providing a place to cultivate the drug. The Barretts, who could not be reached for comment Friday, were released on $20,000 bond each on Thursday, said Daniel Halpern, their attorney. He said their arraignment is expected Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.Between Sept. 6, 2001, and Feb. 14, the pair cultivated 550 marijuana plants at their home in Paso Robles, 134 plants at their Victorville home and 34 plants at their home near Helendale, the indictment alleges.In the San Bernardino County case, Judge Ashworth's May 9 ruling vacated a previous ruling by Judge Margaret A. Powers, who ordered the couple to stand trial on the charges, said Deputy District Attorney James Hosking, who handled the couple's case.The Barretts claim they need the marijuana to quell pain from medical problems. Anna Barrett argues she needs marijuana to boost her appetite and ease chronic pain she suffers from a five-story fall from a balcony in London, Hosking said. He said Gary Barrett argued he needs the drug for a digestive disorder called Crohn's disease, which inflames and causes ulcers in the intestines and also affects the digestive system.Hosking said the case doesn't fall under the double-jeopardy rule, which prevents trying a defendant twice on the same charge. He cited the legal concept of separate sovereigns, which allows state and federal governments to charge and try defendants separately.While Hosking said he did not hand the case over to the federal officials following the acquittal at the state level, Helpern said he finds it odd that the indictment came down so quickly after Ashworth's ruling."It's unfortunate that state law enforcement officials feel that in order to gain a conviction, they have to call in the federal government,' Helpern said.The indictment has generated an outcry from Americans for Safe Access, a nonprofit group pushing to have U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Bush administration back off from their anti-medical marijuana campaign, according to the group's Web site.In response to the Barretts' arrest and indictment, Americans for Safe Access is encouraging medical-marijuana advocates to protest at federal buildings on Tuesday.Americans for Safe Access spokeswoman Steph Sherer said she is unsure if a protest is planned in San Bernardino County. She said 40 people who use marijuana for medical purposes face federal prosecution in California."Every medical marijuana case in the state is someone who is either a high-profile activist that is working with the local governments to implement Prop. 215, or someone who had a case that didn't go the way the county wanted it and it was handed over to the DEA,' Sherer said.She said the recent conviction of a man who cultivated marijuana for ill people in Oakland left jurors frustrated when they learned it was a medical marijuana case."Several members of the jury said they felt used by the federal government, and said that if they knew it was a medical marijuana case, they wouldn't have convicted,' Sherer said."The federal government is not allowing any mention of medical cannabis in their cases. The only way they can get these convictions is by keeping all the medical information away from the jury.' Note: Acquitted by High Desert judge, medical marijuana advocates are then indicted by federal government. Source: San Bernardino County Sun (CA)Author: Joe Nelson, Staff WriterPublished: Friday, May 23, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Bernardino County Sun Website: http://www.sbsun.com/Feedback: http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E24678%257E,00.htmlRelated Articles & Web Site:American's For Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccessnow.orgJudge OKs Orderhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15030.shtmlPatients, Deputies Left Guessing http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14997.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on May 24, 2003 at 11:14:53 PT
jury of its inalienable right to nullify
Breyer also found his instructions to the jury didn't "preclude the jury from bringing its sense of justice to bear on its verdict, nor did they divest the jury of its inalienable right to nullify. As such, Rosenthal is not entitled to a new trial on this basis." 
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