XPost: rec.drugs.cannabis, rec.music.gdead, alt.gathering.rainbow   
   From: pieman@pieman.org   
      
   Ed Rosenthal Medical Marijuana Retrial Ends in Split Verdict   
   Jury Says Outspoken Advocate Not Guilty on One Charge but Guilty on Three   
   Others   
   (Wednesday, 5/30/2007, 1:45pm) -- A jury split its verdict today for author   
   and medical marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal on federal marijuana charges   
   after a trial in which he offered no defense.   
      
   "If the jury had heard the whole truth, they would have acquitted me on all   
   charges," said Rosenthal. "These laws are doomed. Science and compassion   
   will win out over politics and superstition."   
      
   Rosenthal, 62, was found guilty of three federal felonies related to the   
   cultivation and distribution of marijuana. On the charges related to the   
   Harm Reduction Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco, the   
   jury found Rosenthal not guilty of cultivation and distribution and   
   deadlocked on a conspiracy count. The U.S. Attorney's office dismissed the   
   deadlocked count on the direction of the judge.   
      
   When it re-indicted Rosenthal in October 2006, the government brought nine   
   additional charges related to financial transactions, but U.S. District   
   Judge Charles Breyer dismissed them March 14 in a rare "vindictive   
   prosecution" ruling, saying the government acted improperly.   
      
   The government was also thwarted in its attempt to compel members of the   
   medical marijuana community to testify against Rosenthal. Seven witnesses   
   rejected immunity letters from the U.S. Attorney's office and refused to   
   answer questions, despite being found in contempt of court. The seven were   
   excused Tuesday morning after again telling Judge Breyer that they would not   
   testify.   
      
   "I think that this prosecution is against the will of the people, and it's   
   actually harming the citizens of California." Said Debby Goldsberry, one of   
   the seven. "I believe it would be illegal and immoral for me to participate   
   in the prosecution because of that."   
      
   After his 2003 conviction, Rosenthal was sentenced to a single day in jail,   
   with credit for time served. Both the judge and the prosecutor have said   
   that Rosenthal can receive no additional jail time or fine with the new   
   conviction, as Rosenthal has already completed the terms of his sentence,   
   including three years of supervised release.   
      
   "The government gets medical marijuana convictions by cherry-picking juries   
   and then preventing any meaningful defense," said Rosenthal attorney Rob   
   Amparán. "When it comes to medical marijuana, our federal system of justice   
   is broken."   
      
   As in the first trial in 2003, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled   
   inadmissible and irrelevant the evidence and witnesses Rosenthal tried to   
   introduce.   
      
   The jury did not hear that Rosenthal was deputized by the City of Oakland to   
   provide medical marijuana and was in compliance with city regulations. Nor   
   was testimony from then-City Councilmember Nate Miley (now an Alameda County   
   Supervisor) allowed, though he had been permitted to take the stand in the   
   first trial. Scientific testimony about the medical efficacy of marijuana   
   and any discussion of the state law and local ordinances that Rosenthal was   
   acting to implement were also excluded.   
      
   Following Mr. Rosenthal's January 2003 conviction, jurors in the case   
   repudiated their verdict and criticized the court for not allowing them to   
   hear the whole story. Rosenthal appealed that conviction and had it   
   overturned last year because a juror sought outside legal advice prior to   
   deliberations.   
      
   Trial transcripts and background information are available at   
   www.green-aid.com.   
      
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   For interviews or more information, contact William Dolphin (510) 919-1498,   
   mail@williamdolphin.com   
      
      
      
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