JUDGE TO DECIDE VALIDITY OF CASE AGAINST MARIJUANA ADVOCATE

San Francisco -- A federal judge has asked the United States attorney
here to submit all trial preparation memorandums in the case against
a leading advocate of medical marijuana so that the court can
determine if the government has been pursuing a "vindictive prosecution."

The judge, Charles R. Breyer, ordered the review at the request of
lawyers for Ed Rosenthal, a spokesman in the effort to legalize
marijuana who has been in a closely watched court battle with the government.

At a motion hearing in Federal District Court here on Friday, defense
lawyers for Mr. Rosenthal urged Judge Breyer to dismiss an array of
federal drug, money laundering and tax evasion charges against their
client, saying an appellate court judge had overturned his conviction
in a nearly identical case last year.

The new charges, outlined in a federal grand jury indictment issued
in October, accuse Mr. Rosenthal of 14 felonies, including conspiracy
to grow and sell marijuana for medical use, laundering $1,850 and
failing to report income from the sale of crop plants on his tax returns.

The overall charges are nearly identical to a 2003 federal case
against Mr. Rosenthal, which ended with a one-day prison sentence
after members of the jury disavowed the verdict, having learned
belatedly that Mr. Rosenthal was growing marijuana under Proposition
215, the state's medical marijuana law.

"We are outraged that the prosecutor continues to pursue this case,"
said Shari L. Greenberger, a lawyer for Mr. Rosenthal. "The
vindictive nature of the prosecutor is clear-cut and utterly shocking."

Despite the short sentence in the 2003 case, Mr. Rosenthal challenged
the fairness of his trial, and in April, a federal judge with the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the marijuana growing
conviction, citing jury misconduct. The decision punctuated a
contentious three-year volley of legal appeals and cross complaints
that were given a second wind on Friday, with the start of the new case.

The United States attorney, George Beven, declined to answer
questions about the case, citing an office policy. But at Friday's
hearing he agreed to provide Judge Breyer with all interoffice
memorandums pertaining to his office's decision to seek another trial
and expanded charges.

The federal government has continued to come down hard on medical
marijuana advocates in the state. A spokesman for the United States
attorney's office, Luke Macaulay, has said previously that federal
law supersedes state law. Though Proposition 215 was overwhelmingly
approved by voters in 1996, under federal law, marijuana is illegal.

"This is really about a collision between state and federal law,"
said Douglas Horngrad, a defense lawyer for many advocates of medical
marijuana. Judge Breyer has promised to rule on the motion to dismiss
within the week. But he signaled in court on Friday that the case
would probably proceed in some form, because he intended to review
the new evidence only in relation to some of the 14 felony charges.

"If I did grant the defense motion" Judge Breyer said, "I probably
would only grant it in relation to the money laundering and tax evasion."

Mr. Rosenthal, an author and columnist, would face no more than a
one-day jail sentence if convicted on the marijuana charges, per an
agreement the prosecutor made with the court.