POT TRIAL JUDGE CHASTISED

Supreme Court Rules Jury's Role Usurped

OTTAWA - A medical marijuana crusader from Alberta will get a new
trial on drug charges after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled
unanimously Thursday the judge in his original trial had reduced the
jury's role to a "ceremonial" one.

In a 7-0 judgment, the top court said Grant Krieger of Calgary was
deprived of his "constitutional right" to a trial by jury when the
judge in the case directed the jury to find the accused guilty of
possession of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking.

It quashed Krieger's conviction and ordered a new trial by jury.

"The trial judge's direction was not a 'slip of the tongue,'" Justice
Morris Fish wrote on behalf of the court. "His purpose and words were
clear. In effect, the trial judge reduced the jury's role to a ceremonial one."

Krieger said he was overjoyed by the ruling, and the prospect of a new trial.

Krieger, who uses marijuana to help cope with his multiple sclerosis,
said he is confident a "jury of his peers" will find him not guilty
of the charges.

"I'm walking in the same steps as Henry Morgentaler was walking over
abortion and female issues," he said in an interview from Calgary.

"I'm doing the same thing for the sick, injured and dying on the
cannabis issue."

At the original trial, Krieger, 51, confessed to providing marijuana
to others in medical need, but he defended his actions on grounds he
had no choice other than to break the law to ensure a reliable supply
of pot for patients who have a federal exemption for marijuana use.

Before leaving the courtroom, the judge directed the jurors to
convict, and said they were "bound to abide by that direction."

He later rejected two jurors requests to be excused on religious
grounds and grounds of conscience. The jury subsequently returned
with a guilty verdict.

The verdict was upheld in the Alberta Court of Appeal. Although it
said trial judge Paul Chrumka made a mistake in ordering the jury to
convict, it said a new trial would result in the same verdict.

Chief Justice Catherine Fraser dissented, which meant the case was
automatically put to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruling confirmed what Fish cited as the
well-established notion that juries have the power to refuse to apply
the law when their consciences permit no other course.

John Hooker, Krieger's lawyer, had argued the Supreme Court had
formally recognized the option of so-called jury nullification in a
1988 ruling that upheld the jury acquittal of abortion doctor Morgentaler.

Hooker said the top court would have delivered a devastating blow to
the role of juries in the Canadian judicial system if it had upheld
the guilty verdict.

"Now, I think it's an absolute given that everyone has the right to
put his case before the people, the jury," he said in an interview.

Hooker said he expects a new trial can begin within the next four or
five months.

Krieger's legal journey began seven years ago when police seized 29
marijuana plants from his Calgary home.

Since then, he's become an outspoken activist, and was recently
convicted in Alberta provincial court of two new drug trafficking charges.

His sentencing is slated for February.