🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3E4046EB.8C37D94B@nospam.com>,
 Allison Trent <atrent@nospam.com> wrote:

> Jurors Regret Convicting Pot Grower  
>                          
> February 4, 2003 03:58 PM EST  
>                          
> SAN FRANCISCO - Jurors who convicted a man of cultivating 
> marijuana and other federal drug charges say they would have 
> acquitted him had they been told he was growing it for medical 
> purposes for the city of Oakland. 
> 
> "I feel like I made the biggest mistake in my life," juror 
> Marney Craig said. "We convicted a man who is not a criminal." 
> 
> Other jurors reached Monday agreed and planned to write to 
> Ed Rosenthal to apologize. 
> 
> Rosenthal, 58, the self-described "Guru of Ganja," faces up 
> to 85 years in prison when he is sentenced June 4. In a 
> courtroom crowded with medical marijuana advocates wearing 
> "Free Ed" buttons, a federal judge decided Tuesday that 
> Rosenthal can remain free until then. 
> 
> After a two-week trial, the 12-member jury unanimously 
> concluded Friday that Rosenthal was growing more than 100 
> plants, conspired to cultivate marijuana, and maintained an 
> Oakland warehouse for a growing operation. He was portrayed 
> as a major drug manufacturer and put on little defense. 
> 
> The jury was not told that Rosenthal was acting as an agent 
> of Oakland's medical marijuana program, an outgrowth of a 
> 1996 medical marijuana initiative approved by California's 
> voters that conflicts with federal law. 
> 
> "I really feel manipulated in a way," juror Pam Klarkowsky 
> said. "Had I known that information, there is no way I could 
> have found that man guilty." 

I heard about this case a few days ago on NPR. Two or three
of the jurors were interviewed.

The legal issues need to be resolved by a higher court. If I
was the judge, I would have thrown out the case, but that's
just me.

What I first thought when I heard of this story was that it is
yet another example of the Bush Administration's hypocricy. Bush
campaigned on several key issues; one being states' rights. The
Republican party is supposed to be a states rights party and
they're supposed to admire the tenth amendment. This is yet 
one more example of where what Bush and his Republican buddies
promise, they do the opposite. If California wants to allow
the medical use of marijuana, it should be permitted to do so,
but its rights are being abridged by the same administration
who campaigned on a states' rights platform.