Posted on 09/13/2005 9:22:10 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Attorneys for a man who has written books on how to grow marijuana and avoid getting caught asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to overturn his drug convictions.
Ed Rosenthal, the self-described "Guru of Ganja," was convicted two years ago of growing and distributing hundreds of marijuana plants. He says he was authorized to do so by the city of Oakland under a 1996 California medical marijuana law.
After U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer refused to allow a jury to hear that defense, Rosenthal was convicted of being a major drug supplier.
Breyer sentenced him to one day in prison on grounds that Rosenthal reasonably believed he was immune from prosecution because he was acting on behalf of Oakland city officials. The government and Rosenthal both appealed.
The government maintained Rosenthal, now 60, should have gotten at least 24 months. Amber Rosen, an assistant United States attorney, told a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Breyer abused his discretion by issuing a sentence that fell outside sentencing guidelines.
While the case was on appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can prosecute medical marijuana growers and users despite California's medical marijuana law.
The justices also ruled in an unrelated case while Rosenthal's prosecution was pending appeal that federal judges do not have to follow congressional sentencing guidelines. That decision was also retroactive.
Dennis Riordan, one of Rosenthal's appellate attorneys, told the court that Rosenthal's conviction should be overturned.
"I was told by the city attorney's office that I was immune from prosecution. If I can't rely on government officials, who can you rely on?" Rosenthal said in an interview after the hearing.
He once wrote the "Ask Ed" column for High Times magazine and has written books with titles including "The Big Book of Buds" and "Ask Ed: Marijuana Law. Don't Get Busted."
Everything you need to know about a liberal, right there.
You mean the invasion that left us a nearly omnipotent (at a minimum no longer constitutionally limited) federal government? I wish everyone could forget.
Yourself.
But I must also say that the right to a fair trial (and the right to free speech, for that matter) strongly implies the right to present whatever defense one wishes. Our courts should not be violating these rights.
Ed Rosenthal ain't no liberal. He's about as libertarian as it gets. I suspect this comment was some serious sarcasm.
Let the protect my stash mentality rant begin.
Omnipotent to harm, impotent to help.
Interesting angle. Thanks.
Do you have an honest reason as to why you think marijuana should continue to be illegal? Prohibition didn't work, and neither is this.
Don't worry-- by the time they log in and click on "post reply" they will have forgotten what they're here for.
Actually, he does a lot of this stuff to deliberately challenge the law and thus bring publicity to his cause. I doubt he'd recommend that his readers do the same.
Oooohhh.. Cheetos...
I guess I'll put you in the "against" column..
He did a little time for tickin' off the authorities..
Pot... And the Drug War in general, distract americans from other, more important things going on in the world..
That's why the feds have a "war against drugs" in the 1st place..
It makes people lazy, stupid, lethargic and hedonistic.
There is nothing Conservative about being a pothead and I am not getting sucked into another pro pot discussion. I will leave this discussion to the drug users and all the government entitlement money they might require when they fry their synapse and block all their receptors.
Drug use is a non-survival behaviour / attribute...
Legalize all Drugs..
Let those who are unable to comprehend the dangers kill themselves..
It would cut the welfare roles by 50% within a year...
...or maybe she was just a blonde?
"45 year-old Amy Brasher was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, after a mechanic reported to police that 18 packages of marijuana were packed in the engine compartment of the car which she had brought to the mechanic for an oil change. According to police, Brasher later said that she didn't realize that the mechanic would have to raise the hood to change the oil"
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