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Lit_Match

Judge Tells Feds To Ease Up on Marijuana Maven
03.17.07|Oakland Tribune|By Josh Richman

A federal judge on Friday gave a prosecutor one month to decide — and a lecture to guide his way — on whether to continue the government's case against "Guru of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Wednesday tossed out money laundering and tax evasion charges, a huge section of the government's case, against the 62-year-old former High Times magazine columnist. The judge said those new charges amounted to vindictive prosecution after an appeals court overturned Rosenthal's 2003 conviction of three marijuana-growing felonies.

On Friday, Breyer granted Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan's request for more time to contemplate his response to that ruling: Appeal it to a higher court or proceed with the marijuana cultivation and distribution charges that remain or drop the case entirely.

The government already has said it won't seek more than the one-day jail sentence Rosenthal already served for his original conviction should he be convicted anew on the marijuana crimes. Breyer made it clear Friday he'd like to see the case go away, suggesting the government should weigh whether its time and energy, and the court's, is best spent on the trial of a man who already has served his sentence.

Breyer ordered everyone back to court on Friday, April 13, and chuckled over the date's superstitious connotation. "I can't imagine a better day," he said dryly.

"How about 4/20?" Rosenthal quipped. The number "420" is often associated with marijuana use.

Outside the courthouse, the ever-impudent Rosenthal dared Bevan to continue the case, claiming a trial would further expose the government's misconduct and vindictiveness: "It would be foolish of Mr. Bevan not to go forward. ... I urge him to."

His lawyers, however, said they agree with Breyer that it should end now.

Famed for his marijuana cultivation books and the "Ask Ed" column he wrote for High Times, Rosenthal's 2003 convictions came more than a year after federal agents raided his Oakland home, an Oakland warehouse in which he was growing marijuana and a San Francisco medical marijuana club he supplied.

Medical marijuana use on a doctor's recommendation is legal under state law but prohibited by federal law, so Rosenthal was barred from mounting a medical defense at trial. Breyer sentenced him to one day behind bars — time he'd already served.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his convictions in April 2006, finding juror misconduct — a juror's conversation with an attorney-friend during deliberations — compromised Rosenthal's right to a fair verdict and so warranted a new trial. But the court also rejected Rosenthal's claim of immunity from prosecution as an officer of Oakland who grew the drug under the city's medical marijuana ordinance.

Prosecutors reindicted Rosenthal in October, adding charges that he'd laundered marijuana proceeds by buying four money orders totaling $1,854, and that he'd falsified tax returns for 1999, 2000 and 2001 by omitting income from his marijuana distribution.

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sterbo

Thanks Lit_Match - an important event in the ongoing saga of the Medical Marihuana movement.

Here's an update I provided over in Legal Issues (wrong forum?). I can't seem to find it anymore.

Feds plan to retry marijuana advocate

Bob Egelko
Saturday, March 17, 2007

A federal prosecutor said Friday that he plans to retry a prominent marijuana advocate on cultivation charges even though the man faces no punishment if convicted -- a decision the trial judge suggested he reconsider.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer postponed Ed Rosenthal's retrial, which was to start Monday, and gave prosecutors a month to decide whether to appeal his dismissal of charges of tax evasion and money laundering, the only charges that carried possible prison sentences.
In papers filed before the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan said the government wouldn't drop the case even if it fails to reinstate the dismissed charges, or decides not to appeal Breyer's dismissal order.
In either event, Bevan wrote, "the government would proceed to trial on the drug counts.''
At the hearing, Breyer noted that Bevan has already agreed not to seek imprisonment for Rosenthal on the marijuana cultivation charges, in light of a federal appeals court decision that overturned Rosenthal's convictions at his first trial.
Rosenthal, 62, was convicted by a jury in 2003 on three charges of cultivating marijuana that he was growing for medical patients. Breyer sentenced him to the one day in jail he had already served, rather than the five years prescribed by federal guidelines, saying Rosenthal had believed he was acting legally because he had been designated as an official in Oakland's medical marijuana program.
A federal appeals court overturned the convictions last year, finding misconduct by a juror who consulted a lawyer during deliberations. Prosecutors then obtained a new grand jury indictment, adding tax and money-laundering charges that carried potential prison terms of up to 20 years.
Breyer dismissed the additional charges Wednesday, ruling that prosecutors had illegally retaliated against Rosenthal for his successful appeal and his public statements challenging the fairness of his trial.

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Sec

You can find it in The Tank. It is generally known that only the News Administrators will post the news. This keeps certain articles from being posted more than once in more than one forum.

You are very much encouraged to comment on articles the News Admins post, but leave posting the news to them. If you find an article you believe would make a good addition to the news forum, you can PM a link to one of the News Administrators. They are listed at the bottom of the News Menu Page.

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sterbo

Thanks -
Plains pointed this out to me the other day after my post.

That said, the TANK seems, IMHO, a little harsh for a rather innocuous error.

Oh well, it's cool - As Rita-Skeeter put so stirringly, "Everyone loves a rebel Harry"...



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Buzzby

The Tank isn't punishment. It's just the place where inappropriate threads go to die. It's not the same kind of a thing as infraction points on your record.

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