Rosenthal Medical Marijuana Retrial Ends in Split Verdict

Wednesday, May 30, 2007 Media Contact: William Dolphin 510 919-1498

PRESS CONFERENCE AT 2:30 - San Francisco Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate

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
Amparán. “When it comes to medical marijuana, our federal system of justice
is broken.”

As in the first trial in 2003, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled
inadmissible and irrelevant the evidence and witnesses Rosenthal tried to
introduce.

The jury did not hear that Rosenthal was deputized by the City of Oakland to
provide medical marijuana and was in compliance with city regulations. Nor
was testimony from then-City Councilmember Nate Miley (now an Alameda County
Supervisor) allowed, though he had been permitted to take the stand in the
first trial. Scientific testimony about the medical efficacy of marijuana
and any discussion of the state law and local ordinances that Rosenthal was
acting to implement were also excluded.

Following Mr. Rosenthal’s January 2003 conviction, jurors in the case
repudiated their verdict and criticized the court for not allowing them to
hear the whole story. Rosenthal appealed that conviction and had it
overturned last year because a juror sought outside legal advice prior to
deliberations.

Trial transcripts and background information are available at
http://www.green-aid.com.

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