Pot Guru-Ed Rosenthal to be Re-tried
Thanks to Jeralyn over at Talkleft for alerting us to the lastest news regarding the absurd issue of prosecuting people for growing medical marijuana. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer demanded to know who in the Department of Justice made the decision to continue pursuing Rosenthal, who had his original conviction overturned last year. Rosenthal can't be sentenced to prison even if he is convicted because the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the one-day prison sentence ordered by Breyer in 2003. Newly appointed U.S. Attorney Scott Schools made the decision, said Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan, but he was not sure if Department of Justice officials in Washington were involved. The judge said the government's position to go forward left him no choice but to hold a trial, which he scheduled for May 14. "This isn't a criminal case, this is a political case," said Rosenthal, who appeared in court dressed in a blue wizard's robe with a golden marijuana leaf emblazoned over the breast. "I may as well get my money's worth and have a trial." Mercury NewsSAN FRANCISCO - Federal prosecutors said today they would retry marijuana grower Ed Rosenthal on cultivation charges, even after a federal judge urged them to drop the case and chastised the government for lodging charges solely to punish the self-proclaimed "guru of ganja."
1 comment:
Another "case" of illicit-double-jeopardy it seems. What, not enough "real" crime (think wall street) to contend with?
Not unlike the case in Washington State, where the cop kept arresting people for cannabis because he "didn't think the law was right".
So, does that indicate a trend toward the law "interpreting" everything the way they want and NOT what they Peoples' Law says?
by "I used to be middle class" Sept.24,2014
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