JURORS RETHINK MARIJUANA CASE

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jurors who convicted a man of cultivating marijuana and
other federal drug charges say they would have acquitted him had they been
told he was growing it for medical purposes for the city of Oakland.

"I feel like I made the biggest mistake in my life," juror Marney Craig
said. "We convicted a man who is not a criminal."

Other jurors reached Monday agreed and planned to write to Ed Rosenthal to
apologize.

Rosenthal, 58, the self-described 'Guru of Ganja,' faces up to 85 years in
prison when he is sentenced June 4. In a courtroom crowded with medical
marijuana advocates wearing 'Free Ed' buttons, a federal judge decided
Tuesday that Rosenthal can remain free until then.

After a two-week trial, the 12-member jury unanimously concluded Friday that
Rosenthal was growing more than 100 plants, conspired to cultivate
marijuana, and maintained an Oakland warehouse for a growing operation. He
was portrayed as a major drug manufacturer and put on little defense.

The jury was not told that Rosenthal was acting as an agent of Oakland's
medical marijuana program, an outgrowth of a 1996 medical marijuana
initiative approved by California's voters that conflicts with federal law.

"I really feel manipulated in a way." juror Pam Klarkowsky said. ,Had I
known that information, there is no way I could have found that man guilty.