The Washington Monthly

February 3, 2003

MEDICAL MARIJUANA....Great story over at TalkLeft tonight. Ed Rosenthal was convicted of marijuana cultivation charges last week, but today the jurors say they wish they could do it over:

I feel like I made the biggest mistake in my life," said juror Marney Craig, a 58-year-old Novato property manager. "We convicted a man who is not a criminal. We unfortunately had no idea of who he was or what he did."

Another juror: "Some of us jurors are upset about the way the trial was conducted in that we feel Mr. Rosenthal didn't have a chance and therefore neither did state's rights or patient's rights. I would have liked to have been given the opportunity to decide with all the evidence."

The other jurors agreed--and they are all going to write Ed an apology.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

The jury was not told that Rosenthal was acting as an agent of the city of Oakland's medical marijuana program, which was an outgrowth of a 1996 medical marijuana initiative approved by California's voters.

"I really feel manipulated in a way. I feel the jury was railroaded into making this decision," said juror Pam Klarkowsky, a 50-year-old Petaluma nurse. "Had I known that information, there is no way I could have found that man guilty."

I'm sure John Ashcroft is proud of this stunning victory. I know I feel safer. Don't you?

—Kevin Drum 10:48 PM Permalink | Trackbacks

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