POT TRIAL FOCUS ON DEA AGENT

Did a top DEA agent tell local medical marijuana advocates they would be
left alone by the feds?

The question was the center of legal skirmishing Monday, as lawyers for
marijuana guru Ed Rosenthal filed an appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals trying to force Judge Charles Breyer to allow testimony from Mary
Pat Jacobs, a key defense witness. Rosenthal faces up to life in prison for
cultivating marijuana and conspiracy.

In a sworn affidavit, Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana spokeswoman
Mary Pat Jacobs testified that she had several conversations about medical
marijuana with Drug Enforcement Administration Supervisor Mike Heald.

During those conversations, Heald stated, "the DEA was not interested in
interfering" with the implementation of Proposition 215, the medical
marijuana law passed by California voters in 1996, according to Jacobs'
Jan. 16 testimony.

She also said she regularly discussed Heald's alleged comments with
Rosenthal, leaving the pot advocate and writer with the impression that he
was on solid legal ground in experimenting with the growth of different
types of cannabis.

Breyer -- who has said that medicinal marijuana is not relevant to
Rosenthal's drug cultivation case -- has instructed the jury to ignore any
testimony touching on the medical uses of the marijuana Rosenthal has
openly admitted to growing.

Attempts to reach Heald on Monday were unsuccessful.

"We're trying to do whatever we can to reverse the decision," said William
Simpich, an attorney for Rosenthal.

The defense initially sought to have Heald testify but said that Breyer
said Jacobs' statement would be enough to establish that the conversations
took place.