cannabisnews.com: Grower Found Guilty in Medical Marijuana Case 





Grower Found Guilty in Medical Marijuana Case 
Posted by CN Staff on January 15, 2004 at 09:00:37 PT
By Heather Woodward, The Olympian
Source: Olympian
Olympia -- A jury found Monica Ginn guilty Wednesday of charges that she grew and distributed marijuana, sparking ire among medical marijuana advocates. Jurors also decided Ginn, 53, qualifies for a more severe sentence because her growing operation was within 1,000 feet of a designated school bus stop. She faces up to five years in jail, but her attorneys promised to appeal the case as high as the Washington Supreme Court. 
Kevin Johnson, Ginn's court- appointed attorney, said he wasn't surprised by the verdict because an earlier ruling by Judge Thomas McPhee forbade him from presenting medical reasons as his client's defense for growing and distributing marijuana, a controlled substance. McPhee found that Ginn, who claims to suffer from chronic back pain, did not meet all of the requirements to justify using that defense. "With that gutted, there's basically no defense," Johnson said. "I think the verdict was a foregone conclusion." Ginn was released on her own recognizance pending sentencing after the verdict was read Wednesday. But the state Department of Corrections immediately arrested the Olympia resident on an unrelated failure to appear charge that Johnson said is a mistake. Ginn admitted growing marijuana for her own use and for a Seattle man with multiple sclerosis, who has since died. She also said she provided marijuana to Green Cross, a patient cooperative that is an advocate for medical marijuana users. But Green Cross representatives denied Wednesday that Ginn worked with the cooperative, which no longer gives marijuana to pain sufferers. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/ginn.htmSource: Olympian, The (WA)Author: Heather Woodward, The OlympianPublished: Thursday, January 15, 2004Copyright: 2004 The OlympianWebsite: http://www.theolympian.com/Contact: http://www.theolympian.com/forms/lettrfrm.shtmlRelated Article & Web Site:Green Cross Patient Co-ophttp://www.hemp.net/greencross/Woman's Aim To Use Pot Law Rebuffed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18134.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by billos on January 15, 2004 at 11:13:02 PT:
Sounds just like........
another Rosenthal "Court of the Kangaroo." It will be interesting to see the jurors lament when they find out it was medical. 
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