Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jan 2006
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

POT CRUSADER TO TEST CONCEPT OF JURY NULLIFICATION

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 longtime 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 in the case 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 submitted 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."

But 13 years later, in the case of Saskatchewan farmer Robert 
Latimer, the Supreme Court took a narrower view.

"The law cannot ignore jury nullification," said the 2001 ruling that 
refused to clear Latimer of a minimum mandatory life sentence for 
killing his severely disabled daughter.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman