ED ROSENTHAL SPEAKS OUT ON CNN'S NEWSNIGHT

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: the strange case of Ed Rosenthal. The state of
California said he was growing medical marijuana legally. The federal
government thought differently.

A short break and NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT: the clash of marijuana laws and the man
caught in the middle.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

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BROWN: I always want to comment on that, but I don't get them
all.

The next story is two great debates wrapped up in one story. The
debate on the surface dates back a few decades: whether sick people
should have legal access to marijuana. But the debate underneath dates
back a few centuries: just how much the federal government in
Washington can tell the people out in the states what to do.

In California, one man is caught up in both debates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Ed Rosenthal is a drug dealer. That is true. But
the real question is different: Is he a criminal?

The federal government tried and convicted him last week of growing
and selling marijuana, and he did both. Still, in California, many,
many people, including local prosecutors, see him not as a criminal,
but as a victim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must not let this verdict stand.

BROWN: Rosenthal was growing pot with the full knowledge of the city
of Oakland. They were partners in getting medical marijuana to sick
people, legal in the state, but against federal law. And the feds made
an example of Ed Rosenthal.

ED ROSENTHAL, MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE: It's a terrible situation
when a citizen, conducting business, being told that what he's doing
is legal, is then arrested for it. It can happen to anybody.

BROWN: To win their case, federal prosecutors had only to prove that
Rosenthal grew and sold the drug. The jury was never told, and the
judge barred the defense from telling them, that the pot was
sanctioned by the city and the state and intended only for those who
are sick. Under federal law, the reasons didn't matter.

TIMOTHY LYNCH THE CATO INSTITUTE: The DEA and federal prosecutors have
very grandiose ideas about how far federal jurisdiction extends. They
will say that it extends to all drug cases, no matter how small they
are, no matter how local in scope.

BROWN: What the jury didn't know in the trial, it learned immediately
after the verdict. And many of those jurors felt cheated, denied the
entire picture of the case.

CHARLES SACKETT, JUROR: I ask myself how I could have allowed myself
to juror in such a case where the outcome was so deliberately stacked
against state rights and patient rights from the beginning.

MARNEY CRAIG, JUROR: We were sent into the jury room with half the
evidence and expected to come up with a fair and just verdict. This
did not happen.

CROWD: Ed, we love you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And Ed Rosenthal joins us tonight from San Francisco. It's good
to have you with us.

Was the jury -- did prosecutors tell the jury why they thought you
were selling this marijuana, by the way?

ROSENTHAL: No, they didn't. They didn't feel that they needed to. They
just had to prove that I was growing the marijuana.

BROWN: OK, so they didn't present a theory that you were just some
street drug dealer. They let jurors think whatever they thought.

ROSENTHAL: That's right. It really didn't matter to them. Just the
fact that I was growing it was enough.

BROWN: And you're sitting there in this trial and this is going on.
Didn't you want to get up and scream, hey, wait a second; there's a
small fact you don't know, or several?

ROSENTHAL: Well, we thought that the judge would allow some of our
evidence in. We were really disappointed when the court decided that
we couldn't present any of our evidence. It was very
frustrating.

BROWN: And they didn't know that you worked with the city of Oakland.
And, in fact, is there not within even federal law an area where, if
you are an agent of the government, you are exempt, essentially, from
some of these drug laws?

ROSENTHAL: Yes. That's a provision of the federal law. It's 18-USC --
Title 18 USC-885(d). And that exempt officers of the city from
criminal activities when they're carrying out health and safety
regulations.

BROWN: And you would argue, and I gather Oakland would support the
argument, that you were an agent of the city?

ROSENTHAL: Yes. As a matter of fact, the assistant attorney for
Oakland testified at the hearings that I was an officer of the city
and that I should be exempt.

BROWN: And the judge did not allow that testimony before the jury
either?

ROSENTHAL: That's right.

BROWN: Because?

ROSENTHAL: Well, he said that she wasn't a federal officer, so she
wasn't authorized to make that determination. And when we tried to
bring a federal officer into the court, the judge quashed the subpoena.

BROWN: Where do you go from here? You appeal this, certainly, right,
to the 9th Circuit?

ROSENTHAL: Well, yes. We think that there were a lot of improprieties,
both in the grand jury actions, as well as in the trial. And my
attorneys assure me that it will be overturned.

BROWN: Well, it's unusual for attorneys to be that certain. The
Supreme Court has spoken on this question. And it does seem to me it
has sided with the federal government over the states. Why are the
attorneys so certain you're going to walk?

ROSENTHAL: Well, they think that there were so many improprieties at
the trial and before the trial, that it reeks.

BROWN: Can you give me a sense of what the improprieties
were?

ROSENTHAL: For instance, the prosecutor, AUSA Bevan, testified at the
grand jury. And a prosecutor isn't supposed to testify. Once he
testified, he should have recused himself from the grand jury.

BROWN: Anyway, this goes to the 9th Circuit. And you're looking at
five years if you don't win. We appreciate your time. And, as we
always do with guests, we wish you good luck.

Thanks a lot, Ed Rosenthal, in San Francisco tonight, in one of those
cases.

Still ahead, segment seven is around the corner. Tonight: a memorial for
the lost astronauts and a new anthem for the space program. You'll want to
stay with us.

This is NEWSNIGHT from New York.