Ed Rosenthal: Faces Re-Trial for Old Medical Marijuana Charges

[meloyelo]

Ed Rosenthal: Faces Re-Trial for Old Medical Marijuana Charges
by Ed Rosenthal (12 Sept, 2006) Ed Rosenthal needs help - the federal government is raising a dead issue to try and jail him again.


The ganja guru himself: Ed Rosenthal
The Feds are going after one of the well-respected names in Cannabis: Ed Rosenthal. In 2003, Ed was tried on several trumped up charges after legally providing starter plants to California medical marijuana dispensaries. He was found guilty, but de-felonated after the jury found out they'd been lied to by the government. Now, the feds are going to re-try him and the outcome will determine if the feds understand that medicinal marijuana progress will not be stopped, or if they will be able to continue their War of Terror on the herb.

The outcome depends on whether people like you chose to help Ed, who has helped so many growers and tokers over the years. Want to help? Read the full letter from Ed below.


Hello. My name is Ed Rosenthal and I was tried in 2003 for providing marijuana starter plants to medical marijuana distribution centers. The exact charges were manufacture, providing a place to manufacture and conspiracy. The jury found me guilty.

Within four days of the trial, eight of the jurors repudiated the verdict. After leaving the jury box they had learned the whole truth: I was appointed as a City Officer empowered to provide patients with medical marijuana. They told the media that they felt that they had been used and worse.

After considering all the facts of the case the judge sentenced me to one day in prison, time served. I appealed the convictions on three grounds: improper actions by the juror, the fact that I was a city officer should have exempted me from prosecution under federal law and that even if I was not protected I had been led to believe I was by proper authorities and thus should be free from prosecution under the rules of estoppal.

The 9th circuit reversed the conviction on the basis of improper actions by the juror and held that I could be re-tried. On August 30, the judge held a status hearing. The prosecutor told the court that he intends to retry the case and the judge ruled that according to law the trial must start by the end of October. In addition, this time I will be tried with three co-defendants. Two of those people were subpoenaed by a grand jury and have refused to testify.

This is an extremely important case for the government and for medicinal marijuana supporters. They hope that a win here against me will give them a pass to attack all providers functioning under the California Medical Laws, then they will move on to decimate progress made in other states with similar medical marijuana laws. As you probably know, the federal authorities closed all of the medical facilities in San Diego in early August 2006. Our win in this case will be a major setback for the government's efforts to contain the medical marijuana phenomenon.

However, wins are costly. The last trial, which cost over $350,000, left me in a critical, vulnerable position financially. I don

[ViRedd]

I pray to God that someday ... someday I will be selected as a juror in a case like this.

Vi

[resinman]

Do not want to sound cold,,,But

When the judge sentenced ed to one day in jail,,,I hip hiped Hoorayed,,,it was a great moment

But when he came out onto the courts steps and had this bitter i am the victim attitude with this wacky position claiming they would appeal


Sometimes fighting the feds ,,,is not wise


The US attorneys office would have been satisified,,,although unhappy,,,,,they wanted more jail time,,,

but they were not going to appeal the judges discretion,,,

Ed should have considered himself Very Lucky,,,,,,i think he had 1500 cuts,,,and his silver pearl was some top notch cuttings,,for indoor


His attorneys have given him poor advice,,,,should have left it alone,,,Now he has woken the Giant,,,,and it will stomp on him till he is broken

i commend him for his alledged causes,,,but because of his ego and crack pot attorneys,,,

What did they expect,,,"I appealed the convictions on three grounds"

He is a man of pride,,,sometimes a bigger man learns to swallow that pride for sanitys sake,,,

i hope he gets this tossed,,,,

resinman

[Dman]

Hi Folks,

Gotta aggree with resinman here...VERY poor legal advice. Ed should have left it alone, and chocked one up for the good guys. Remember, it's always best to let wounded, sleeping dogs lie...'specially when the dogs are Fed's! ;)

Do not want to sound cold,,,But

When the judge sentenced ed to one day in jail,,,I hip hiped Hoorayed,,,it was a great moment

But when he came out onto the courts steps and had this bitter i am the victim attitude with this wacky position claiming they would appeal


Sometimes fighting the feds ,,,is not wise


The US attorneys office would have been satisified,,,although unhappy,,,,,they wanted more jail time,,,

but they were not going to appeal the judges discretion,,,

Ed should have considered himself Very Lucky,,,,,,i think he had 1500 cuts,,,and his silver pearl was some top notch cuttings,,for indoor


His attorneys have given him poor advice,,,,should have left it alone,,,Now he has woken the Giant,,,,and it will stomp on him till he is broken

i commend him for his alledged causes,,,but because of his ego and crack pot attorneys,,,

What did they expect,,,"I appealed the convictions on three grounds"

He is a man of pride,,,sometimes a bigger man learns to swallow that pride for sanitys sake,,,

i hope he gets this tossed,,,,

resinman

[Low3nd]

I think he's trying to avoid the conviction for the sake of the Govt. setting legal president.

[resinman]

Supreme Court Ruling Says Even Medical Marijuana Violates Federal Law


Under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, federal law trumps state law whenever the two conflict.


The federal courts do not recognize medical marijuna and it cant or will not be allowed in court as a defense

They got him by the balls ,,,lets hope this jury,,,is a bunch of free thinkers

he could get life if they want to do it



Judge Breyer Skeptical of Defense Motions in Rosenthal Case

January 6th, 2003




SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6, 2003. At the first day of pretrial hearings in Ed Rosenthal's case, US District Judge Charles Breyer was openly skeptical of defense motions to throw the case out of court. ( A second defendant in the case, Rick Watts, was not present due to a recent injury. His attorney, Omar Figueroa, said that Watts was on the verge of reaching a separate agreement with the government).

Regarding whether the government had jurisdiction to prosecute Rosenthal under the 10th amendment and interstate commerce clause, Breyer noted that he had already ruled that it did in the OCBC case. "My views haven't changed," he said. He noted that the issue is now on appeal to the 9th Circuit and will presumably be decided there.

Regarding entrapment by estoppal, the argument that Rosenthal had been misled by the federal government to believe he would not be prosecuted, Breyer said that he did not see sufficient evidence to support this defense. Rosenthal's attorneys contended that Oakland city officials, particularly the City Attorney, had led him to believe that he was acting lawfully. Breyer indicated that this was a judgment to be made not by local, but federal, officials, and that federal courts had clearly pronounced otherwise.

The defense argued that Rosenthal had further reason to believe he was acting legally since he had been officially deputized by the city as a medical marijuana provider. Defense ttorney Ephraim Margolin said that federal agents had been present at meetings where Rosenthal's deputization was discussed, and suggested that they had endorsed city policy. Breyer granted a discovery motion for any documents showing that the federal government had sanctioned Oakland's policy. US Attorney George Bevan dismissed the notion that federal officials had done so. In any case, he said, the government had evidence that Rosenthal was growing long before Oakland deputized him.

Breyer was dismissive of the argument that Rosenthal was a target of wrongful selective prosecution. He noted that previous Supreme Court precedent in a selective service case, Waite vs. US, gave the government the green light to prosecute outspoken individuals for violating the law. (He added that the matter might be different if Rosenthal had been found with only a small amount of marijuana).

Regarding the defense's motion to suppress the search warrant, Breyer said that even if he accepted the defense's contentions that (1) two of the informants were unreliable, and (2) officers couldn't have smelled marijuana outside of Rosenthal's Oakland garden as was claimed, there was still plenty of other evidence in the 50-page complaint to justify issuing a warrant. Defense attorney Robert Eye argued that were additional problems in the warrant, such as questionable charges of excessive electric usage and suspicious telephone call patterns. Breyer asked for more about the electric usage issue, but pointed to other facts that seemed to justify a warrant.

Breyer promised to issue a ruling at the next hearing, which is scheduled for 2:30 PM Wednesday, Jan. 8th. Depending on his decision, a further evidentiary hearing may be held Thursday. The jury trial is scheduled to start on Jan. 20th.



Ed was lucky,,,very lucky,,,You see,,,the evidence he was growing big time before the meetings,,,he had been under there eye,,,,thats what will hang him this time,,,the co defendents will rat him out also,,its how the feds do there squeeze playl

i hope the best for him

resinman

[c-ray]

from http://origin.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_5441156
Ruling accuses U.S. attorney of vindictive prosecution
By Josh Richman, STAFF WRITER
03/15/2007

A federal judge dismissed money laundering and tax charges against "Guru of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal on Wednesday, gutting the government's case by ruling the new charges amounted to vindictive prosecution.

The government said the new charges it filed against Rosenthal in October resulted from their re-evaluation of the case, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco noted, but "it is apparent that it decided to re-evaluate its strategy in response to Rosenthal's (and his supporters') public criticism of the trial.

"In other words, the government's deeds — and words — create the perception that it added the new charges to make Rosenthal look like a common criminal and thus dissipate the criticism heaped on the government after the first trial," Breyer wrote.

Case law states there is a presumption of vindictiveness when the government increases the charges' severity after the defendant's successful appeal — exactly what happened here, Breyer wrote. "As the government concedes, this is the rare case in which the presumption applies. And it is a case in which the government has failed to satisfy its burden of rebutting the presumption."

Rosenthal, 62, offered thanks Wednesday not only to Breyer, but also to Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan "for being so honest about his vindictive state of mind, both in court and in the motions. He was probably unaware of it. He was so caught up in his hate of marijuana and medical marijuana patients that he didn't realize how vindictive he was being."

Breyer didn't dismiss marijuana cultivation and distribution charges against Rosenthal, but prosecutors already have said they won't seek more than the one-day, time-already-served jail sentence that Rosenthal received the first time he was convicted of those crimes.

Rosenthal's legal team issued a statement Wednesday calling for no further waste of federal tax dollars on what's left of the case. Americans for Safe Access counsel Joe Elford, who argued the vindictive-prosecution motion on Rosenthal's behalf, said Wednesday such motions are rarely filed and even more rarely granted.

"The question is, do they drop it now or do they drop it later?" an ebullient Elford said. "They may well appeal this decision, and when they lose that, that might be the time for them to drop this."


Famed for his marijuana cultivation books and the "Ask Ed" column he wrote for High Times magazine, Rosenthal was convicted of three marijuana-growing felonies in 2003, more than a year after federal agents raided sites including his home, an Oakland warehouse in which he was growing marijuana and a San Francisco medical marijuana club he supplied.

Medical use of marijuana 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. A judge 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, finding that 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.

Federal prosecutors filed a new indictment with additional charges in October, essentially claiming Rosenthal, from October 2001 through February 2002, conspired with Kenneth Hayes and Richard Watts to grow marijuana at sites on Sixth Street in San Francisco and on Mandela Parkway in Oakland, laundered marijuana proceeds by buying four money orders totaling $1,854 during that time and falsified tax returns for 1999, 2000 and 2001 by omitting income from his marijuana distribution.

Hayes and Watts face similar, related charges. Both were charged after the same 2002 raids that nabbed Rosenthal, but injuries suffered in a car accident have kept Watts from trial until now and Hayes fled to Canada just before he was indicted.

Rosenthal had Tommy Chong headline a $125-per-head event to raise money for Rosenthal's legal fund last month. Chong is of the Cheech and Chong comedy duo renowned for stoner movie classics such as "Up in Smoke" and "Nice Dreams," and he was prosecuted a few years ago on federal drug paraphernalia charges.

"It went exceptionally well, about 200 people were here and Tommy stayed the whole time. ... The police only came once," Rosenthal said Wednesday, noting that Oakland police merely asked partygoers to stay inside Rosenthal's house.

[Cannafornia]

You, I and Ed are all thought criminals. I think it's safe to say, that within the last ten years the term "Orwellian" has become cliche.

There are kiddie bangers going out the revolving prison door, only to kill again while everyone is busy busting up grows.

[nuggdigger]

SAN FRANCISCO -- A prosecutor said Tuesday that a self-proclaimed "guru of ganja" grew and distributed thousands of marijuana plants out of a warehouse to supply area pot clubs.

Ed Rosenthal returned to court for opening statements in the case that federal prosecutors are retrying, even though he faces no prison time if he is convicted.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan did not mention that Rosenthal won't face jail time for the charges but stuck to a strict recitation of evidence about the growing operation.

Rosenthal, 62, was convicted in 2003 of running the Oakland operation, but the conviction was thrown out last year because a juror consulted a lawyer on how to decide the case.

Before the conviction was dismissed, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer sentenced him to just one day in prison, saying Rosenthal believed he was growing the plants for a city medical marijuana program.

Breyer urged prosecutors last month to drop the case. Rosenthal cannot be sentenced to prison again after an appeals court upheld the sentence that he had already served.

Prosecutors charged Rosenthal with money laundering and tax fraud along with the marijuana counts when they re-indicted him in October. But Breyer dismissed the non-marijuana charges last month.

A lawyer for Rosenthal argued on Tuesday that her client was a prominent scientist, author and marijuana reform advocate who became a political target over his support for medical marijuana.

"This is an attempt by the U.S. government ... to censor Mr. Rosenthal," defense attorney Shari Lynn Greenberger said.

Outside court, Rosenthal mocked prosecutors for trying him on the charges after he had already served his time.

"Sort of like Alice in Wonderland," Rosenthal said. "Off with his head, and then the trial."

Rosenthal's case has drawn attention as a symbolic battle between federal and state authorities over medical marijuana, which California voters legalized but which the federal government still considers contraband.


By MARCUS WOHLSEN
The Associated Press

[c-ray]

from http://origin.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_6027222

Rosenthal reconvicted, to no effect
'Guru of Ganja' calls case against him 'a parody,' plans to appeal
By Josh Richman, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 05/31/2007 02:32:45 AM PDT

A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Oakland "Guru of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal on Wednesday of three of the five marijuana-growing felonies of which he stood accused.

After starting deliberations Tuesday afternoon, jurors convicted Rosenthal, 62, of one conspiracy count; one count of growing, intending to distribute and distributing marijuana; and one count of using a commercial building — 1419 Mandela Parkway in Oakland — as a site for growing and distributing marijuana.

But they acquitted him of growing and distributing marijuana at the Harm Reduction Center medical-marijuana club on San Francisco's Sixth Street, and they deadlocked on whether he had conspired to do so.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer — who presided over Rosenthal's first trial in 2003, and has made it clear that he believes Rosenthal shouldn't have been retried — told Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan to call whichever superiors he needed for approval to have that final count dropped, as he wouldn't brook yet another retrial in his courtroom. The charge was dropped within an hour.

So, more than six years after federal agents raided the Mandela Parkway warehouse, the Harm Reduction Center, Rosenthal's home and other sites, seizing thousands of marijuana plants, Rosenthal now faces no prison time, no fine and no probation at all.

That's because Bevan and Breyer agreed months ago that Rosenthal couldn't be sentenced now to anything beyond the one day of
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time, already served, to which he was sentenced for his 2003 convictions in the same case, overturned last year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals due to juror misconduct. Rosenthal is scheduled to be "sentenced" next Wednesday, but he'll walk free.

Prosecutors haven't publicly discussed their motives and goals in retrying Rosenthal. It could be that they wanted him to have felony convictions on his record should he ever be busted again, or to send a message to other medical marijuana advocates, or simply to chalk up a win in so long-running and high-profile a case.

"I think I'm going to flee to Canada, though, in the next 24 hours, just so they can bring me back for sentencing," Rosenthal quipped after Wednesday's verdict. "I feel like the whole thing is a parody. ... It's not going to really change my life much one way or the other."

But he intends to appeal these convictions nonetheless as a travesty of justice, he said.

Robert Amparan, one of Rosenthal's attorneys, said he'll first file a motion for a new trial. Breyer seems unlikely to grant such a motion, given his disdain for this second trial. Amparan also said his own strength is jury trial, and he wants another attorney to review his work with fresh eyes, so he anticipates Rosenthal will retain new counsel for the appeal.

Prosecutors had reindicted Rosenthal in October with these charges as well as nine tax-evasion and money-laundering counts, but Breyer tossed out all the financial counts in March, deeming them vindictive prosecution.

As in his first trial, the jurors weren't allowed to hear any testimony that Rosenthal was acting under the auspices of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative — deemed an officer of the city by Oakland's City Council — to grow marijuana for use under the state's medical marijuana law. Federal law still bans all cultivation, possession and use of marijuana.

"Whether they know it or not, the jury voted against their own self-interest," Rosenthal said. "At some point they're going to wake up and realize the enormity of what they did, and they're going to live with that for the rest of their lives the way the previous jury did."

Most of the jurors in Rosenthal's 2003 trial renounced their verdict within hours of rendering it, saying they felt the exclusion of his medical motives from the trial had railroaded them into convicting him.

"It's a cruel thing for the government to impose upon its citizens, the idea that they have to leave their conscience behind when they vote in the jury box. That should be part of it, and so should justice," Rosenthal said.

Amparan said he's concerned Rosenthal's reconviction will embolden federal authorities to crack down on medical marijuana throughout California and elsewhere. If the federal government could persuade a Bay Area jury to convict someone who'd been acting under Oakland's municipal authority, he said, everyone is now at risk "be they a dispensary, be they a grower, be they a patient."

Rosenthal said he's working with a pair of state legislators to draft a bill that would grant providers more explicit protection under state law; he expects to have an announcement on that within the next few weeks.

[Green Supreme]

Rosenthal Medical Marijuana Retrial Ends in Split Verdict
Jury Says Outspoken Advocate Not Guilty on One Charge but Guilty on Three Others

(Wednesday, 5/30/2007, 1:45pm) -- A jury split its verdict today for author and medical marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal on federal marijuana charges after a trial in which he offered no defense.

"If the jury had heard the whole truth, they would have acquitted me on all charges," said Rosenthal. "These laws are doomed. Science and compassion will win out over politics and superstition."

Rosenthal, 62, was found guilty of three federal felonies related to the cultivation and distribution of marijuana. On the charges related to the Harm Reduction Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco, the jury found Rosenthal not guilty of cultivation and distribution and deadlocked on a conspiracy count. The U.S. Attorney's office dismissed the deadlocked count on the direction of the judge.

When it re-indicted Rosenthal in October 2006, the government brought nine additional charges related to financial transactions, but U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed them March 14 in a rare "vindictive prosecution" ruling, saying the government acted improperly.

The government was also thwarted in its attempt to compel members of the medical marijuana community to testify against Rosenthal. Seven witnesses rejected immunity letters from the U.S. Attorney's office and refused to answer questions, despite being found in contempt of court. The seven were excused Tuesday morning after again telling Judge Breyer that they would not testify.

"I think that this prosecution is against the will of the people, and it's actually harming the citizens of California." Said Debby Goldsberry, one of the seven. "I believe it would be illegal and immoral for me to participate in the prosecution because of that."

After his 2003 conviction, Rosenthal was sentenced to a single day in jail, with credit for time served. Both the judge and the prosecutor have said that Rosenthal can receive no additional jail time or fine with the new conviction, as Rosenthal has already completed the terms of his sentence, including three years of supervised release.

"The government gets medical marijuana convictions by cherry-picking juries and then preventing any meaningful defense," said Rosenthal attorney Rob Ampar

[Cannafornia]

whatever happened to facing trial twice for the same crime?

Maybe this time they want to withold even more facts, maybe tell the jury that he was only a "drug distributing kingpin" without telling them if it was heroin or cannabis.

I don't like Ed Rosenthal, never have trusted anything about him but this is too much, If I can make to i will go to some of the demonstrations that will happen.

[nuggdigger]

Nonetheless, Ed Rosenthal plans to appeal his federal convictions
By Josh Richman, STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 07/06/2007 05:48:21 PM PDT


SAN FRANCISCO -- Oakland "Guru of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal was sentenced to no penalty at all Friday for three felony marijuana-growing convictions, bringing this phase of his Kabuki-like retrial to a close.
But Rosenthal's story is far from over; he renewed his vow Friday to appeal his convictions -- punishment-free though they may be -- as a miscarriage of justice.

Rosenthal, 62, defiantly told Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan that he's proud of having grown as many as 96,000 marijuana plants from 1998 through 2002, because by doing so he helped thousands of medical-marijuana patients. He then told U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer that unlike most defendants about to be sentenced, he offers no remorse or repentance: "You get none of that from me -- I'm proud of what I did, and I know I've done nothing wrong."

Rosenthal noted that after the jury convicted him May 30 and was discharged, Breyer visited the jury room and told jurors what they hadn't been allowed to hear at trial: that Rosenthal had been acting as an agent of the city of Oakland in growing marijuana for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, and so had believed in good faith that his work was legal.

"If it didn't matter, you wouldn't have felt compelled to go to the jurors and provide that information before they faced the world again," he said, urging Breyer to void his convictions. "This, today, is your last opportunity to stop this overreaching, vindictive prosecution by the federal
government."
Rosenthal called the one-day, time-served sentence Breyer imposed at his original trial in 2003 "recognition that this case should never have been filed criminally. But that is not enough. I should not remain a felon. Citizens around the country urge you to do the right thing, to serve justice, to void this conviction."

But Breyer said Rosenthal's complaints of an unfair trial are proper fodder for 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Rosenthal already has said he'll seek review. Breyer then pronounced Rosenthal's sentence -- one day, time already served, just like last time -- and Rosenthal walked out a free man.

Outside the courtroom, Rosenthal said he'll appeal because his conviction marks a victory for the federal government in its crackdown on state-sanctioned medical-marijuana use -- a political precedent which mustn't stand. But first, he said, he'll spend this weekend at a friend's wedding and taking some time to "putter around my garden"

Defense attorney Robert Amparan rolled his eyes at this potentially loaded statement from the noted marijuana horticulturist who now has felony convictions on his record: "No gardening -- you're not safety-valve eligible anymore, Mr. Rosenthal."

But Rosenthal replied he'll confine his gardening to patio flowers and vegetables.

Federal agents in February 2002 arrested Rosenthal and others while raiding a warehouse on Oakland's Mandela Parkway; the Harm Reduction Center medical-marijuana club on San Francisco's Sixth Street; Rosenthal's home and other sites.

A federal jury convicted Rosenthal in 2003, but within hours, most jurors publicly renounced their own verdict, claiming they'd been railroaded into convicting him by a court that allowed no consideration or discussion of medical marijuana. Breyer later sentenced Rosenthal to only one day in jail and warned any such cases in the future would receive harsher penalties.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2006 ruled there had been juror misconduct, and overturned Rosenthal's convictions. Prosecutors re-indicted Rosenthal in October, adding charges that he'd laundered marijuana proceeds and falsified three years worth of tax returns; Breyer in March tossed out those new charges, deeming them to be vindictive prosecution.

A new jury convicted Rosenthal on May 30 of three of the five marijuana-growing felonies of which he stood accused: a conspiracy count; one count of growing, intending to distribute and distributing marijuana; and one count of using the Mandela Parkway warehouse as a site for growing and distributing marijuana. The jury acquitted him of growing and distributing marijuana at the Harm Reduction Center, and deadlocked on whether he had conspired to do so; at the judge's stern suggestion, prosecutors quickly dropped the deadlocked count.

But prosecutors and the judge had agreed long before the retrial began that Rosenthal couldn't be sentenced now to anything beyond the one day of time -- already served -- to which he was sentenced for his 2003 convictions.


Contact Josh Richman at jrichman@angnewspapers.com or (510) 208-6428.

[Green Supreme]

Sweet, now the shoes on the other foot. Good luck Ed. Peace GS