[Chewbacca]

Here is another mistrial of justice...A Jury is demanding a new trial and has publicly apologized to a city-sanctioned medical pot grower they convicted for drug dealing. The feds blocked any mentioning to the jury that the convicted man was a city-sanctioned and authorized grower and distributor because the reasons why he was growing and selling are irrelevant to federal law.

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5548

Jurors In Rosenthal Case Reject Their Own Verdict; Demand New Trial For City-Sanctioned Medical Pot Provider February 6, 2003 - Oakland, CA, USA "I helped send a man to prison who doesn't belong there," Juror Laments Oakland, CA: Many of the jurors who convicted noted marijuana author and cultivation expert Ed Rosenthal are now protesting their verdict and demanding he receive a new trial. On Tuesday, jurors held a press conference to condemn their verdict, and announce that they would have acquitted Rosenthal had the judge allowed him to explain that he was authorized by the City of Oakland to grow medical marijuana under state law. Throughout Rosenthal’s trial, federal Judge Charles Breyer had prohibited the jury from considering any evidence pertaining to medical marijuana or Proposition 215, ruling, "The purpose for which the marijuana was grown is not a defense and is irrelevant." Jurors maintain that they were unaware of the context of Rosenthal's activities until after the trial. In a prepared statement presented Tuesday on behalf of eight of the 14 sitting jurors, foreman Charles Sackett III said, "I fail to understand how evidence and testimony that is pertinent, imperative and representative to state government policy, as well as doctor and patient rights, and indeed your own family, are irrelevant to this case." In a follow up editorial published by the San Jose Mercury News, juror Marney Craig wrote: "Last week, I did something so profoundly wrong that it will haunt me for the rest of my life. I helped send a man to prison who doesn't belong there. ... This is insane. ... All Ed Rosenthal did was grow some plants, but he wasn't allowed to tell us why." San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan called the jurors' demand for a new trial unprecedented. "I don't know if ever before in history have the majority of jurors held a press conference to say they were misled and misunderstood what they were doing when they rendered a guilty verdict." NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup - who was in San Francisco last week to testify as a character witness on behalf of Rosenthal, but barred by Judge Breyer from participating - agreed. "This has been an extraordinary case in several ways, from the enormous outpouring of public support in California and across the country for the defendant, to the reaction of the jurors when they realized what they had inadvertently done," Stroup said. "Ed Rosenthal has shown great personal courage throughout this ordeal, even as he faces the likelihood of a long prison sentence. We must not let this decision stand." Rosenthal faces five to 85 years in prison for marijuana cultivation. Judge Breyer ruled earlier this week that Rosenthal may remain free on bail until his sentencing, scheduled for June 4.