Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2003
Source: Reason Magazine (US)
Copyright: 2003 The Reason Foundation
Contact:  http://www.reason.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/359
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Author: Jacob Sullum
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ed+Rosenthal (Rosenthal, Ed)

JURY RAGGING - MEDICAL POT IN FEDERAL COURTS

WHEN ED ROSENTHAL was convicted on federal marijuana cultivation charges 
last winter, his friends and supporters were not the only ones who were 
upset. So were the people who convicted him.

"'I'm sorry' doesn't begin to cover it," said one juror. "It's the most 
horrible mistake I've ever made in my entire life." The foreman said, "We 
as a jury truly were kept in the dark."

Jurors complained they had not been told that Rosenthal had been growing 
marijuana in cooperation with the city of Oakland, for patients who are 
allowed to use it as a medicine under California law. That information was 
excluded by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer because federal law does not 
recognize marijuana as a medicine or allow a defense of medical necessity 
against drug charges. Rosenthal's conviction, which carried a five-year 
mandatory minimum sentence, was therefore a foregone conclusion.

Seeing the futility of defending themselves in federal court, three 
officers of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center- Scott Imler, Jeff 
Yablan, and Jeffrey Farrington-have decided to plead guilty to charges of 
"knowingly opening and maintaining a place where [marijuana] was 
manufactured, distributed or used." Without a plea, the three would have 
faced additional charges, carrying mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years 
or more. They still could face prison terms. "We are hopeful that the judge 
will be fair when considering our actions within the totality of the 
situation," Imler said in a March 24 letter to supporters.

A bill introduced in April would give growers and distributors of medical 
marijuana an alternative to throwing themselves on the mercy of courts 
constrained by federal sentencing guidelines. The Truth in Trials 
Act-sponsored by two California congressmen, Democrat Sam Farr and 
Republican Dana Rohrabacher-would allow defendants in marijuana cases to 
present evidence that their actions were permitted under state law, in 
which case they could be acquitted.

"This is a matter of basic fairness," said Robert Kampia, executive 
director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "Jurors who could imprison 
someone for decades for trying to help the sick have a right to hear the 
whole truth, not a censored version that is stripped of any facts the 
government doesn't like."
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