|
Media
Contact: William Dolphin (510) 919-1498, mail@williamdolphin.com
Closing Arguments in Landmark Federal Medical Marijuana Case
Rosenthal Defense to Rest without Witnesses; Gov't Wants More
WHAT: Closing arguments in landmark medical marijuana
case
WHEN: Tuesday, May 29, 2007. Contempt proceedings
for witnesses who refused to testify against Rosenthal at
8:00am. Closing arguments at 8:30am.
WHO: Medical marijuana advocate and author Ed Rosenthal
and his attorneys, Robert Amparan, Shari Greenberger and
Omar Figueroa. Seven "recalcitrant witnesses"
and their attorneys.
WHERE: Federal Building, Courtroom of U.S. District
Judge Charles Breyer, 19th Floor, 450 Golden Gate, San Francisco
Closing arguments in the retrial of medical marijuana advocate
and author Ed Rosenthal will begin at 8:30am Tuesday. Defense
attorneys for Rosenthal intend to rest without calling any
witnesses, saying the government has failed to prove that
crimes were committed.
Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer heard from
seven witnesses who the government has tried to call to testify
against Rosenthal. All said they would not cooperate, even
if found in contempt and threatened with jail, because testifying
would violate their principles. The judge thanked the witnesses
for the "decorum" with which they conducted themselves
in court, saying they had added "dignity" to the
views they expressed. The transcript of that hearing can be
seen here.
Those seven witnesses were found in civil contempt of court
and ordered to think about it over the weekend and reappear,
with their attorneys, at 8:00am on Tuesday.
At an earlier, pre-trial hearing on the matter, Assistant
U.S. Attorney George Bevan, Jr. told the court that he did
not think that even incarcerating the "recalcitrant"
witnesses for contempt would be likely to compel their testimony,
since their reluctance to testify against Mr Rosenthal was
"cause related."
Judge Breyer noted that as a matter of law the remedy must
be designed to elicit the testimony sought, so without an
expectation of compliance, he cannot legally jail them.
Rosenthal is fighting a retrial on three charges related to
cultivating medical marijuana, as well as two additional counts
related to distribution of marijuana to patients.
An appeals court last year overturned Rosenthal's 2003 conviction
on three felony marijuana counts. The U.S. Attorney's Office
brought new charges against Rosenthal last October, but Judge
Breyer dismissed the bulk of them as "vindictive prosecution."
If convicted of the remaining marijuana charges, Rosenthal
faces no time or other penalty, as he has already served his
one-day sentence and three years of supervised release.
|
