cannabisnews.com: New Trial Request Denied





New Trial Request Denied
Posted by CN Staff on May 26, 2003 at 11:33:00 PT
By J.K. Dineen of The Examiner Staff
Source: San Francisco Examiner 
As in every spring, medical marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal has been busy planting his vegetables. "Half his tomatoes are in the ground, his root vegetables are coming along," said Jane Klein, Rosenthal's wife. But unlike past years, Rosenthal doesn't know if he will be around to eat them.On May 16, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer denied a new trial for Rosenthal on marijuana cultivation charges amid allegations of jury bias and other trial irregularities. Breyer's decision sets the stage for a June 4th sentencing, which could land Rosenthal in jail for a maximum sentence of 85 years.
Rosenthal, 58, says he was growing medical pot under Prop 215, the 1996 law approved overwhelmingly by California voters. In the spirit of Prop 215, the longtime marijuana advocate was deputized by the city of Oakland to help furnish sick people with their marijuana.  But Breyer, during the trial, prohibited the jury from hearing any evidence related to the medical uses of marijuana or the California law that allows it. Thus the case presented to the jury was a simple drug case about a man growing thousands of marijuana plants in an Oakland warehouse.  After the trial, a majority of the jurors said the trial was distorted and had they been able to consider what the pot was for they never would have convicted Rosenthal.  Breyer, in upholding his decisions to exclude his medical-marijuana defense, summed up his pretrial rulings in a 27-page opinion published Friday.  "Since the Civil War this country has recognized that whatever the views of local governments, such views do not control the enforcement of federal law," Breyer wrote.  The judge added that "many would question the wisdom" of prosecuting "those who furnish medical marijuana."  Rosenthal attorney Bill Simpich said he will argue that the sentence should be stayed "pending appeal" to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That could take more than a year.  "Given the fact that Ed reasonably believed he was in harmony with law, that should be the basis for staying the sentence," Simpich said.  While the legal contradictions between state and federal law were kept under wraps during the jury trial, they will be fair game at the sentencing, Simpich said.  "Lenity, mercy, common sense -- all those things come into play more than in the trial," Simpich said.  For the few days he has left, Rosenthal continues with his life. He holds a book signing at Cody's Books in Berkeley on June 1. He has been spending time with his two children. And he has been running his publishing company.Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)Author: J.K. Dineen of The Examiner StaffPublished: Monday, May 26, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Francisco ExaminerContact: letters sfexaminer.comWebsite: http://www.examiner.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmGanja Guru -- If Only Truth Could Set Him Freehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16354.shtmlThe Rebellion and Its Martyrs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16346.shtmlMedical Pot Activist Loses New Trial Bidhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16332.shtml 
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Comment #2 posted by Lehder on May 26, 2003 at 16:21:32 PT
Memorial Day
What is the point of honoring those who died for liberties that are being revoked by those who sent them to war to protect those liberties? Today I am honoring, instead, those who have been killed by police in the name of the Drug War, the children shotgunned in their backs by SWAT raiders, the innocent killed in their own homes by masked and cursing prohibitionists, and those who died in prison for a lack of their herb. One day we will once again enjoy our absolute right to control our own bodies.
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Comment #1 posted by freedom fighter on May 26, 2003 at 13:43:04 PT
A Bitter Pill
Words do not comfort my restless soul. How can a man like Ed be so brave enough to grow tomatoes knowing full well that he might never ever see the fruits of his labor? Not seeing his beautiful daughter from graduating High School?It is a bitter pill to swallow knowing that this human being are going to be caged like an animal for growing plants. It is a bitter pill to swallow knowing that society will not ever benefit one second of the "time" when Ed steps into a cage. Not one prohibitionist can ever provide an irrefutable evidence that the society will benefit from his caging.pazff
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