Pubdate: Wed, 17 Apr 2002
Source: Philadelphia Weekly (PA)
Copyright: 2002 Philadelphia Weekly
Contact:  http://www.phillyweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1091
Author: John Valania
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n690/a12.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

DEFENSE TACTIC UP IN SMOKE

Despite warnings from state officials not to speak to the press, the 
Weedman will not go quietly.

On April 3 Ed Forchion--aka the New Jersey Weedman, a marijuana 
legalization advocate who made headlines by lighting up at the Liberty Bell 
and on the floor of the New Jersey State Assembly, among other public 
places--was released from Bayside State Prison in Leesberg, N.J. Forchion 
won early release from a 10-year drug-trafficking sentence as part of the 
state's Intensive Supervisory Parole program.

Despite his release, Forchion refuses to give up the fight to put New 
Jersey's drug laws on trial using a legal technique called jury 
nullification, which allows jurors to refuse to convict if they believe the 
law in question is unfair or unconstitutional.

Forchion's saga began five years ago when he was arrested for receiving a 
Federal Express shipment containing 40 pounds of marijuana. Facing a 
20-year prison sentence, Forchion became a high-profile advocate for 
legalizing pot, risking additional prison time while awaiting trial by 
lighting up in public places in what he calls acts of civil disobedience.

The Camden County Public Defender's Office disavowed the case after 
refusing to invoke the jury nullification defense--telling Forchion it was 
illegal for an attorney in New Jersey to inform a jury of its right to 
question the state's drug laws. Forchion defended himself and eventually 
accepted a plea bargain that would combine all the pending charges against 
him: the '97 FedEx bust as well as assorted arrests for possession while 
awaiting trial.

In December 2000, just before reporting to prison, Forchion filed an appeal 
asking for a retrial and made a formal request to the courts for the 
transcripts of his trial and pre-trial hearings. Forchion claims the 
transcripts were withheld until April 1, 2002--two days before his release 
from prison.

He is now awaiting word from the Third Circuit Federal Court of 
Appeals  (Docket No.- 01-3171) about his retrial, and if he gets it, he 
says he will again try to put the state's marijuana laws on trial through 
jury nullification.

"The whole trial was a mockery," he says. "My constitutional rights were 
withheld because I was talking about marijuana. I want to try and enlighten 
as many people as possible about jury nullification--it's a powerful 
we-the-people weapon. The war on drugs is being waged against the people of 
this country, and this is how we fight back." 
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