POT BACKER CONVICTED OF TAINTING JURY

The Oakland Cannabis Co-Op Director Handed Out A Flier At A Marijuana
Grower's Trial.

A leader in California's medical marijuana movement was convicted in
Sacramento federal court Monday of attempting to influence the outcome of a
fellow pot advocate's trial. Jeff Jones, who has gained national notoriety
as executive director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, was
found guilty by a magistrate judge of passing out a flier in front of
Sacramento's federal courthouse designed to sway prospective jurors for the
trial of Bryan Epis.

Jones' non-jury trial came to an abrupt end in the early afternoon.
Prosecutor Christopher Hagan rested, and defense attorney Michael Bigelow
moved for a dismissal, arguing that the government's evidence did not
support the charge and that Jones has been unfairly singled out.

In denying the motion, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter A. Nowinski rejected a
free-speech argument. He also declared that the contents of the sheet Jones
handed to people entering the courthouse on the June morning Epis' trial
was to begin "was clearly an attempt to influence jurors."

Recalling Bigelow's argument that the flier's content was purely
"informational," Nowinski said that "it is too much information for an
improper purpose."

At that point, Bigelow decided to forgo the presentation of any evidence,
and both attorneys waived closing arguments.

"I find the defendant guilty as charged," Nowinski then said. Sentencing
was scheduled for Feb. 27.

Hagan called a number of prospective jurors who testified that Jones handed
the sheet to them in the courtyard of the building at 501 I St. as they
approached the front door. He also played a videotape from a surveillance
camera showing Jones' encounters with several people.

Some witnesses recalled Jones urging them to "Vote your conscience";
telling them, "I have a friend on trial for growing medical marijuana"; or
saying, "The feds haven't caught up with state law" allowing medicinal use.

Bigelow said there was no evidence his client "didn't have a First
Amendment right to be there" and that there were others distributing and
displaying material in support of medical marijuana. He also said the flier
Jones was distributing "had been disseminated over the Internet and
available to the entire world for months."

"Why we are singling out one individual for passing it out is, to me,
incomprehensible," Bigelow said.

Nowinski told him there are time-and-place restrictions on First Amendment
rights in this instance. The judge said that the presence of other
demonstrators and availability of other material do not excuse his client.

Jones, 38, faces a maximum of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine on the
misdemeanor conviction. Nowinski also could impose restitution equal to
what it cost the government when U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr.
disqualified the entire original group of 42 prospective jurors and
convened a second panel.

The second group and those ultimately selected to serve on the Epis jury
were bused each day between the basement of the courthouse and a distant
location to avoid demonstrators at the building.

Jones and his Oakland club took the fight for medical marijuana to the U.S.
Supreme Court last year but lost. The court ruled that medical necessity
offers no defense to federal prosecution.

Epis, the moving force behind a cannabis buyers club in Chico, was found
guilty in July of growing marijuana. Damrell sentenced him to 10 years in
prison. The conviction has been appealed.

The 35-year-old Epis financed the Chico club after voters approved
California's 1996 initiative allowing the use of doctor-recommended
marijuana for serious illness and chronic pain. His prosecution was the
first federal criminal case involving such an organization to reach a jury.

After being instructed by Damrell that medical necessity is not a defense,
the jury took less than four hours to decide Epis' fate.

The case became a rallying point for medical-marijuana proponents
nationwide, who view it as the ultimate injustice to come from the chasm
between state and federal law.

The sheet handed out by Jones had been downloaded from Epis' Web site and
was Epis' written rendition of the events leading to his trial. It was
posted on the Internet early this year.

A notice of the June 24 trial date was added in the spring, urging his
supporters to attend and asking, "Please be respectful if you come in the
courtroom, and while protesting."

Damrell and Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Wong suggested that Epis was
behind the dissemination of the material and threatened him with a separate
prosecution for contempt. That has never materialized, but Wong and federal
drug agents are trying to tie Epis to the incident.

On that day, demonstrators displayed pro-medical-pot placards and handed
out varied material, including a "jury nullification" pamphlet saying that
judges rarely tell jurors of their right "to judge the law itself and vote
on the verdict according to conscience."