Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jan 2006
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/grant.htm (Krieger, Grant)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL POT GROWER CHALLENGES LAW

OTTAWA -- An ill Alberta man who admits to growing and distributing 
marijuana for medicinal purposes will challenge his drug trafficking 
conviction in Supreme Court today in a test of how far juries can go 
in acquitting people who openly break the law.

A lawyer for Grant Krieger, a long-time medical marijuana crusader, 
will square off against Ottawa over a rare legal safety valve, called 
jury nullification, which allows jurors to rule against a law in 
exceptional cases.

Krieger, 51, was sentenced to a day in jail for being caught with 29 
marijuana plants seven years ago. The Calgary man, who uses marijuana 
to control multiple sclerosis, runs a "compassion club" to sell or 
give marijuana for medical purposes.

He confessed at his trial but used the seldom successful defence of 
necessity, arguing he had no choice but to break the law to ensure a 
reliable supply of pot for patients who have federally approved 
exemptions to use marijuana.

The judge instructed the jurors to convict Krieger, despite strong 
indications two jurors wanted to acquit him.

"Jury nullification runs contrary to the rule of law," federal 
lawyers wrote in a legal brief in the Supreme Court. "It is animated 
by sentiment and sympathy rather than logic and consistency."

Although judges are supposed to encourage jurors to stick to the 
letter of the law, Krieger's lawyer, John Hook, argues the Supreme 
Court formally recognized jury nullification in the 1988 acquittal of 
abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler. At the time, the bench described 
the jury's power as "the citizen's ultimate protection against 
oppressive laws and the oppressive enforcement of the law."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom