HARRELSON'S HEMP SEEDS LEGAL, JURY SAYS QUICKLY

BEATTYVILLE -- The legislature said hemp and marijuana are one and the same.

The state's highest court agreed.

But five women and one man from Lee County said yesterday that actor Woody
Harrelson didn't break the law when he planted four hemp seeds four years
ago in a grassy Lee County field.

The jury took only 20 minutes to find Harrelson not guilty of a misdemeanor
charge of possession of marijuana.

"That wasn't marijuana he planted, if he planted anything," juror Sylvia

Caldwell said as she left Lee District Court with Harrelson's autograph on
a piece of hemp paper.

Outside the courthouse, a crowd of cheering, squealing fans waited for the
39-year-old actor in the dark hemp suit. They carried hand-lettered signs
that said "We Support Hemp."

The decision flew in the face of a law passed by the General Assembly in
1992 and upheld last March by a unanimous state Supreme Court.

It also ended a case that began on June 1, 1996, when Harrelson wielded a
grubbing hoe to challenge the law, which does not distinguish between
marijuana and hemp. The latter contains only a minute amount of the
psychoactive ingredient that gives marijuana smokers a high. Harrelson won
initially in lower courts, but the state's high court overturned the
ruling. That set up yesterday's trial, in which Harrelson faced up to a
year in jail and a $500 fine.

Former Gov. Louie Nunn, one of Harrelson's four attorneys, challenged the
law in his closing argument when he held up a candy bar made from hemp
seeds, then took a small bite.

"Now I've got it in me and I've got it on me," he said. "If you think Mr.
Harrelson should be put in jail for one year or one week or even one night,
I guess we'll be there together."

Lee County Attorney Tom Jones said a videotape of Harrelson holding out the
seeds before planting them, and his repeated statements that he was
challenging the law, proved he knew he was committing a crime.

He asked the jury to convict the actor and give him the maximum fine and at
least 30 days in jail.

"Mr. Harrelson has this coming," Jones said. "He misused his fame."

Jones also tried to suggest that Harrelson had another motive: Using
legalized hemp as a steppingstone to legalized marijuana.

Harrelson testified that he supports legalizing marijuana, but said "it's a
totally separate issue."

Jones said afterward that he respected the jury's decision. He said
Harrelson is a likable person. But he also said, "he's guilty as sin."

Nunn said he has never seen any of Harrelson's movies and didn't meet him
until Tuesday. He said he took the case for free because he supports hemp
as a crop for Kentucky farmers.

He told jurors that the authors of the Constitution set up the jury system
as a safeguard against bad laws or biased judges.

"What's important here today is to see the blessings of liberty guaranteed
in the Constitution are carried out," he said.

"What you do here today will go out all over this nation. It will say
whether justice will prevail."

Harrelson's appearance in Beattyville created a stir. He was mobbed by
autograph-seekers during several breaks in the trial.

They included Sylvia Sparks and her daughter, Teanna Glass, both of
Beattyville.

"It's the first time I've ever seen an actor up close," Sparks said. "I saw
Patrick Swayze when he was here, but that was from a distance. This was close."

"I love all his movies," Glass said.

After the verdict, Harrelson said that as the jury came back he was worried
he might be heading to jail.

"Technically, I guess I violated the law from what the Supreme Court says
the law is," he said.

His hemp battle in Kentucky is over, Harrelson said. He turned the fight

over to Nunn, who said that some legislators who support hemp have
"political apprehensions" about voting for it.

Charles Beal II, another of Harrelson's attorneys, suggested the law might
still be changed to allow hemp cultivation in Kentucky.

"When the law changes, Woody would be the first to come back and plant it
legally," he said.