WHAT: Sentencing hearing for author and medical
marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal; press conference to follow
on plaza of federal building.
WHEN: Friday, July 6, 2007 at 3:00pm
WHO: Advocate and author Ed Rosenthal, defense
attorney Robert Amparán
WHERE: Federal Building, Courtroom of U.S.
District Judge Charles Breyer, 19th Floor, 450 Golden Gate,
San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO – Sentencing for medical marijuana advocate
Ed Rosenthal is scheduled for 3:00pm tomorrow in federal court
in San Francisco. Rosenthal, 62, was convicted May 30 on federal
marijuana charges after a retrial in which he offered no defense.
He is likely to be re-sentenced to the single day in jail
he has already served.
The court will also rule on defense motions for a new trial
and for attorneys’ fees. Rosenthal’s attorneys have asked
the court to grant a new trial, claiming that he was denied
the right to present a full defense. That motion is expected
to be denied tomorrow. Rosenthal is also asking the government
to reimburse attorneys’ fees related to defending nine additional
charges that the court dismissed as vindictive prosecution
in a ruling on March 14, 2007. The Hyde Amendment (18 U.S.C.
§3006A) provides citizens the right to recover fees from
litigation where "the position of the United States was
vexatious, frivolous, or in bad faith."
Defense attorneys say the jury should have been allowed to
hear evidence that Rosenthal was deputized by the City of
Oakland to provide medical marijuana. They also wanted to
present Testimony about Oakland polices and ordinances regarding
medical marijuana.
As in the 2003 trial, Rosenthal was found guilty of three
federal felonies related to the cultivation and distribution
of marijuana. On the charges related to 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.
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.
Following 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.
###
