T
The420Guy
Guest
After she and her fellow jurors found Ed Rosenthal guilty of federal
marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges in San Francisco last week,
Marney Craig discovered that that she had made a terrible mistake.
Instead of the "businessman" she thought she had convicted, Craig learned
that Rosenthal, was, in fact, a widely published marijuana advocate who had
been asked to grow medical cannabis for critically ill patients. The judge
had kept this information from jurors, because Rosenthal was tried under
federal drug laws that do not recognize the medicinal use of marijuana.
"What happened was a travesty and it's unbelievable, unbelievable that this
man was convicted. I am just devastated," said Craig. "We made a terrible
mistake and he should not be going to prison for this."
Craig is not alone in her remorse. Five other jurors, including the jury
foreman, are expected to join Craig to denounce the verdict in a joint
press conference this week. The event will take place immediately after a
hearing to determine whether prosecutors will succeed in revoking
Rosenthal's $200,000 cash bond and send him to jail until sentencing on
June 4. Attorneys for Rosenthal, who is facing five to 20 years in prison,
say they will ask an appeals court for a new trial.
"I was not allowed to tell my story," said Rosenthal. "If the jury had been
allowed to hear the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I would have
been acquitted."
Juror Debra DeMartini said she was distressed to discover that Rosenthal
had been deputized by the city of Oakland, California to grow marijuana for
its medical cannabis program. Oakland city officials testified during
pre-trail hearings that they had tried to reconcile the conflict between
the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bans all marijuana
cultivation, and California's Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215) which
permits patients to possess, consume and grow their own medical cannabis.
In an effort to provide medical cannabis to patients who could not grow
their own, the city granted Rosenthal immunity from prosecution under a
section of the Controlled Substances Act. But U.S. District Judge Charles
Breyer halted every attempt by the defense team to directly tell jurors for
whom Rosenthal's marijuana was being grown and blocked city officials from
explaining Rosenthal's deputization during the trial.
"If I had known that he was told he could grow this by the city, that would
have raised some questions for me in front of the judge," said DeMartini.
"It's a waste of taxpayer money to bring these cases and prosecute people."
Craig sobbed as she recounted her growing concern during the trial that
Judge Breyer was withholding critical information. Craig said she became
alarmed when the judge took over questioning of the witnesses, when he
repeatedly cut off the defense attorney, and when she saw protest signs in
front of the courthouse suggesting that jurors were not fully informed.
"The more information we get, the more we realize how manipulated and
controlled the whole situation was, and that we were pawns in this much
larger game," says Craig. "As residents, we voted to legalize medical
marijuana and now we are forced to sit here and not take any of this into
consideration?
"In some sense it is a major setback, and in another it is a call to
arms,"said Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative, one of the medical marijuana clubs that Rosenthal was growing
for.
Rosenthal's trail was attended by a number of medical marijuana patients,
many of whom wept when the verdict was announced. Nicholas Feldman, a
quadrapalegic cerebral palsy patient who says he smokes medical cannabis to
ease the pain and spasticity in his limbs, was one of several people who
arrived in court in a wheelchair. "How can they do this to us? People are
in pain and it means a lot to us as citizens not to see a person suffer."
said Feldman. "I stand here to day for people who could end up in jail for
helping to ease my pain."
Despite the emotion surrounding the case, some jurors felt that they had no
choice but to follow judge Rosenthal's instructions, based on the evidence
in front of them. DEA agents testified that they seized thousands of
marijuana plants and cuttings at a San Francisco medical marijuana club,
and at an Oakland warehouse owned by Rosenthal. But jurors said they
distrusted the testimony and based their convictions on video tapes of the
marijuana grow sites. They found that Rosenthal conspired with others at
the club to to grow not more than 1,000 marijuana plants, as the prosecutor
claimed, but more than 100 marijuana plants, a fact which will affect
Rosenthal's sentencing. Jurors also found him guilty of growing more than
100 plants at the warehouse and maintaining a place to grow marijuana.
Shortly after the verdict was read, juror Bill Zemke walked solemnly from
the courthouse past past two medical marijuana patients who sat weeping.
"We considered the evidence in the case, the evidence that we could review,
it was not an easy decision," said Zemke evenly. [Medical cannabis] was in
the back of everyone's mind, a factor in the case, but it was not in the
evidence in this case."
"We have state's rights," shouted the disconsolate patient, "you can't lock
all of us up."
Jurors Have Power But Not The City
Jury foreman Charles Sackett agreed with Zemke that jurors came to the only
conclusion that they could have, given the information they were provided.
But he said he supports medical marijuana and hopes Rosenthal will win his
appeal. "The medical issue was not introduced into the court proceedings,
it was never an issue for us," said Sackett. "We weren't allowed to discuss
it amongst ourselves, ever."
Sackett says he's now intrigued by the idea of jury nullification, which he
says none of the jurors was aware of. Jury nullification is a legal
principal which allows the jury to find a defendant innocent if the law
itself is unjust or unjust in a particular application. Would jurors have
taken the option of jury nullification in Rosenthal's case? "It would be
speculation on my part, but it's very possible; dare I say, probable," says
Sackett. "I think jury nullification is going to be part of the answer
regarding states' rights in future cases."
Down at San Francisco City Hall, Matt Gonzalez, president of the city's
Board of Supervisors, or city council, said jurors in cases like
Rosenthal's should know that they can simply refuse to follow federal law.
"The judge is not giving the jury any space, whatsoever, to engage in what
has been an extremely long tradition in common law as it relates to jury
nullification," said Gonzalez.
Craig said she believed that if she had taken a stand during deliberations
and said the federal law was wrong, she would have been removed from the
jury. "I didn't know what would happen to us if we didn't follow the rules,
how much trouble I would get into," said Craig. "I was totally intimidated
into going along with the verdict because I didn't see any other way."
San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi noted that there have been a
number of decisions involving jury nullification in which judges have
removed jurors who have refused to convict. But he said a jury instruction
that permitted this was ruled to be unconstitutional in the last year.
"Over the past 20 years, there has been a movement to limit the power of
the jury by keeping the jury ignorant of the facts," said Adachi. "Jury
nullification is a constitutional right that every individual person who is
called for jury duty possesses, and unless we appreciate that right, we
will lose it because the courts will take it from us."
In the meantime, Adachi warned that Rosenthal's conviction will encourage
federal authorities to arrest more medical cannabis growers and
distributors. "The kind of prosecution that we are seeing in the Rosenthal
case could be multiplied 50 or 100 times over in the next year or two
here," said Adachi.
Despite the warning of coming prosecutions, Rosenthal's attorney Bill
Simpich noted that city officials were absent during Rosenthal's trial.
While Prop. 215 passed by 78 percent in San Francisco, he said officials
have been slow to comply with a recent ballot initiative ordering them to
investigate a city-run medical cannabis growing and distribution system.
"'The single biggest thing that hurt us is that we did not have the cities
of San Francisco and Oakland by our side," said Simpich. "They were not
there and if they had been there we would have won. They made a mistake and
the time to correct it is now."
Simpich is calling for California cities and counties to continue
immunizing medical cannabis caregivers because the judge's condemnation of
this tactic applies only to those cases in front of him. "I'd love to get
deputized," said Bob Martin, proprietor of the San Francisco's Compassion
and Care Center medical marijuana club. "We are scared every day."
Gonzales says he is still meeting with officials and legal advisers to
review the city's options. DEA spokesman Richard Meyer has made it clear
that any San Francisco city authority involved growing or distributing
medical marijuana will be subject to arrest and property forfeiture.
Craig said she upheld federal law and convicted Rosenthal because she felt
she didn't have any choice. But she says that following instructions was no
excuse for not acting on her conscience and refusing to convict a medical
marijuana grower. "Anyone who said I was just following orders ... well
yeah, we just wiped out this village in Viet Nam, we were just following
orders, or the Europeans turning away when the Jews were taken away by the
Nazis. We are no better than that if we can't take a stand for what we
believe in," said Craig.
"I feel like if I had done something in this trial, even if I had been
thrown off the jury, it would have made a difference because it would have
been on the record that someone said 'No,' and that is something I have to
live with."
Pubdate: Tue, 04 Feb 2003
By Ann Harrison, AlterNet
marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges in San Francisco last week,
Marney Craig discovered that that she had made a terrible mistake.
Instead of the "businessman" she thought she had convicted, Craig learned
that Rosenthal, was, in fact, a widely published marijuana advocate who had
been asked to grow medical cannabis for critically ill patients. The judge
had kept this information from jurors, because Rosenthal was tried under
federal drug laws that do not recognize the medicinal use of marijuana.
"What happened was a travesty and it's unbelievable, unbelievable that this
man was convicted. I am just devastated," said Craig. "We made a terrible
mistake and he should not be going to prison for this."
Craig is not alone in her remorse. Five other jurors, including the jury
foreman, are expected to join Craig to denounce the verdict in a joint
press conference this week. The event will take place immediately after a
hearing to determine whether prosecutors will succeed in revoking
Rosenthal's $200,000 cash bond and send him to jail until sentencing on
June 4. Attorneys for Rosenthal, who is facing five to 20 years in prison,
say they will ask an appeals court for a new trial.
"I was not allowed to tell my story," said Rosenthal. "If the jury had been
allowed to hear the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I would have
been acquitted."
Juror Debra DeMartini said she was distressed to discover that Rosenthal
had been deputized by the city of Oakland, California to grow marijuana for
its medical cannabis program. Oakland city officials testified during
pre-trail hearings that they had tried to reconcile the conflict between
the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bans all marijuana
cultivation, and California's Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215) which
permits patients to possess, consume and grow their own medical cannabis.
In an effort to provide medical cannabis to patients who could not grow
their own, the city granted Rosenthal immunity from prosecution under a
section of the Controlled Substances Act. But U.S. District Judge Charles
Breyer halted every attempt by the defense team to directly tell jurors for
whom Rosenthal's marijuana was being grown and blocked city officials from
explaining Rosenthal's deputization during the trial.
"If I had known that he was told he could grow this by the city, that would
have raised some questions for me in front of the judge," said DeMartini.
"It's a waste of taxpayer money to bring these cases and prosecute people."
Craig sobbed as she recounted her growing concern during the trial that
Judge Breyer was withholding critical information. Craig said she became
alarmed when the judge took over questioning of the witnesses, when he
repeatedly cut off the defense attorney, and when she saw protest signs in
front of the courthouse suggesting that jurors were not fully informed.
"The more information we get, the more we realize how manipulated and
controlled the whole situation was, and that we were pawns in this much
larger game," says Craig. "As residents, we voted to legalize medical
marijuana and now we are forced to sit here and not take any of this into
consideration?
"In some sense it is a major setback, and in another it is a call to
arms,"said Jeff Jones, executive director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative, one of the medical marijuana clubs that Rosenthal was growing
for.
Rosenthal's trail was attended by a number of medical marijuana patients,
many of whom wept when the verdict was announced. Nicholas Feldman, a
quadrapalegic cerebral palsy patient who says he smokes medical cannabis to
ease the pain and spasticity in his limbs, was one of several people who
arrived in court in a wheelchair. "How can they do this to us? People are
in pain and it means a lot to us as citizens not to see a person suffer."
said Feldman. "I stand here to day for people who could end up in jail for
helping to ease my pain."
Despite the emotion surrounding the case, some jurors felt that they had no
choice but to follow judge Rosenthal's instructions, based on the evidence
in front of them. DEA agents testified that they seized thousands of
marijuana plants and cuttings at a San Francisco medical marijuana club,
and at an Oakland warehouse owned by Rosenthal. But jurors said they
distrusted the testimony and based their convictions on video tapes of the
marijuana grow sites. They found that Rosenthal conspired with others at
the club to to grow not more than 1,000 marijuana plants, as the prosecutor
claimed, but more than 100 marijuana plants, a fact which will affect
Rosenthal's sentencing. Jurors also found him guilty of growing more than
100 plants at the warehouse and maintaining a place to grow marijuana.
Shortly after the verdict was read, juror Bill Zemke walked solemnly from
the courthouse past past two medical marijuana patients who sat weeping.
"We considered the evidence in the case, the evidence that we could review,
it was not an easy decision," said Zemke evenly. [Medical cannabis] was in
the back of everyone's mind, a factor in the case, but it was not in the
evidence in this case."
"We have state's rights," shouted the disconsolate patient, "you can't lock
all of us up."
Jurors Have Power But Not The City
Jury foreman Charles Sackett agreed with Zemke that jurors came to the only
conclusion that they could have, given the information they were provided.
But he said he supports medical marijuana and hopes Rosenthal will win his
appeal. "The medical issue was not introduced into the court proceedings,
it was never an issue for us," said Sackett. "We weren't allowed to discuss
it amongst ourselves, ever."
Sackett says he's now intrigued by the idea of jury nullification, which he
says none of the jurors was aware of. Jury nullification is a legal
principal which allows the jury to find a defendant innocent if the law
itself is unjust or unjust in a particular application. Would jurors have
taken the option of jury nullification in Rosenthal's case? "It would be
speculation on my part, but it's very possible; dare I say, probable," says
Sackett. "I think jury nullification is going to be part of the answer
regarding states' rights in future cases."
Down at San Francisco City Hall, Matt Gonzalez, president of the city's
Board of Supervisors, or city council, said jurors in cases like
Rosenthal's should know that they can simply refuse to follow federal law.
"The judge is not giving the jury any space, whatsoever, to engage in what
has been an extremely long tradition in common law as it relates to jury
nullification," said Gonzalez.
Craig said she believed that if she had taken a stand during deliberations
and said the federal law was wrong, she would have been removed from the
jury. "I didn't know what would happen to us if we didn't follow the rules,
how much trouble I would get into," said Craig. "I was totally intimidated
into going along with the verdict because I didn't see any other way."
San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi noted that there have been a
number of decisions involving jury nullification in which judges have
removed jurors who have refused to convict. But he said a jury instruction
that permitted this was ruled to be unconstitutional in the last year.
"Over the past 20 years, there has been a movement to limit the power of
the jury by keeping the jury ignorant of the facts," said Adachi. "Jury
nullification is a constitutional right that every individual person who is
called for jury duty possesses, and unless we appreciate that right, we
will lose it because the courts will take it from us."
In the meantime, Adachi warned that Rosenthal's conviction will encourage
federal authorities to arrest more medical cannabis growers and
distributors. "The kind of prosecution that we are seeing in the Rosenthal
case could be multiplied 50 or 100 times over in the next year or two
here," said Adachi.
Despite the warning of coming prosecutions, Rosenthal's attorney Bill
Simpich noted that city officials were absent during Rosenthal's trial.
While Prop. 215 passed by 78 percent in San Francisco, he said officials
have been slow to comply with a recent ballot initiative ordering them to
investigate a city-run medical cannabis growing and distribution system.
"'The single biggest thing that hurt us is that we did not have the cities
of San Francisco and Oakland by our side," said Simpich. "They were not
there and if they had been there we would have won. They made a mistake and
the time to correct it is now."
Simpich is calling for California cities and counties to continue
immunizing medical cannabis caregivers because the judge's condemnation of
this tactic applies only to those cases in front of him. "I'd love to get
deputized," said Bob Martin, proprietor of the San Francisco's Compassion
and Care Center medical marijuana club. "We are scared every day."
Gonzales says he is still meeting with officials and legal advisers to
review the city's options. DEA spokesman Richard Meyer has made it clear
that any San Francisco city authority involved growing or distributing
medical marijuana will be subject to arrest and property forfeiture.
Craig said she upheld federal law and convicted Rosenthal because she felt
she didn't have any choice. But she says that following instructions was no
excuse for not acting on her conscience and refusing to convict a medical
marijuana grower. "Anyone who said I was just following orders ... well
yeah, we just wiped out this village in Viet Nam, we were just following
orders, or the Europeans turning away when the Jews were taken away by the
Nazis. We are no better than that if we can't take a stand for what we
believe in," said Craig.
"I feel like if I had done something in this trial, even if I had been
thrown off the jury, it would have made a difference because it would have
been on the record that someone said 'No,' and that is something I have to
live with."
Pubdate: Tue, 04 Feb 2003
By Ann Harrison, AlterNet