Defense Begins Thursday in Federal Medical Marijuana Trial Former City Councilman to Testify; Judge Blocks Others
BBSNews - 2003-01-29 -- The marijuana cultivation trial of author and activist Ed Rosenthal resumed today in San Francisco federal court with the testimony of several witnesses for the prosecution, and the judge’s refusal to allow the defense to put on the stand most of the witnesses they sought to have testify.
Special Agent James Sweeney of the DEA took the stand to recount his seizure of a computer from the home of Richard Watts, a former manager of the Harm Reduction Center in San Francisco and one of Mr. Rosenthal’s indicted co-conspirators.
An IRS computer specialist, Larry Murphy, then told the court how he had retrieved a letter from the harddrive of Mr. Watts. The letter was purported to Mr. Rosenthal about some plants that were delivered to the HRC, but the agent was unable to say if Mr. Watts had written the letter, or if it had ever been printed out and sent.
A witness from the IRS, Pamela Woo, testified as to a phone number they linked to Ken Hayes, the executive director of the Harm Reduction Center and another of Mr. Rosenthal’s indicted co-conspirators. The records indicated that Mr. Rosenthal had called him on three different days, for a total the defense pointed out -- of no more than nine minutes. They also produced four months of phone records showing several dozen calls to the Harm Reduction Center, with an average call length of two minutes.
Christopher Fay, a special agent of the DEA, testified about his undercover buy of 400+ small starter plants from the Harm Reduction Center. He said he had no way to know where the plants had come from, and had made no inquiries. He had never seen Mr. Rosenthal before, and had not seen him at the HRC. He had not counted the plants or determined if they had roots.
The case agent for the DEA, John Pickett then told the court that he had counted the plants and checked for roots. Defense counsel Robert Eye noted in cross examination that there were at least two types of growing medium present, which Agent Pickett admitted was characteristic of different growers. He further conceded that he had no way to know if any of the plants purchased had come from Mr. Rosenthal, and that no documents had been seized in any of the searches that tied Mr. Rosenthal to the plants the undercover agent had purchased.
The final witness for the prosecution, a special agent of the DEA, will return to the stand first thing on Thursday, to conclude his testimony about plants he seized from the Harm Reduction Center during the February 12, 2002 raids, and with that, the prosecution will rest.
The defense will then give its opening argument, which they have reserved from the start of the trial. They plan on calling an expert witness, Dan Weaver, who will dispute the number of plants the DEA claims to have seized from both Mr. Rosenthal’s warehouse and the Harm Reduction Center. The prosecution contends that Mr. Rosenthal was involved in managing the cultivation of small marijuana starter plants, or clones, at the HRC.
In addition to the expert witness, Nate Miley, formerly of the Oakland City Council and now an Alameda County Supervisor, will appear on behalf of Mr. Rosenthal. He is expected to testify that Mr. Rosenthal’s was completely open with city officials about his marijuana growing activities.
The defense has also asked to put on the stand several character witnesses, which the presiding judge in the case, Charles Breyer, refused to allow.
They include Keith Stroup, the executive director of NORML, the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, who was to testify about Mr. Rosenthal’s longstanding commitment to legal reform; Fred Gardner, formerly of the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, who was to testify about the city sanctioning of marijuana dispensaries and Mr. Rosenthal’s involvement in it; and Dr. Michael Alcalay, M.D. the medical director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Collective, who was to testify about Mr. Rosenthal’s commitment to family life and family values.
In a separate matter, the defense’s final effort to get a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to intercede in the trial was rejected late last night. Defense attorneys had sought to force Judge Breyer to allow them the chance to present evidence that would reveal that at least one DEA supervising agent had said that the federal government would not pursue prosecutions in areas where the local governments were allowing medical distribution. Such testimony would indicate that Mr. Rosenthal had been the victim of a form of entrapment. Judge Breyer has already ruled that the jury will not be able to hear any such testimony.
Trial resumes on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Courtroom of Justice Charles Breyer, 19th Floor, 450 Golden Gate, San Francisco, California
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Updates and background information on Ed Rosenthal’s case are available on the web at www.green-aid.com.
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