MEDICINAL POT GROWER'S CASE GOES TO JURY

SAN FRANCISCO -- A lawyer for pro-marijuana author and activist Ed
Rosenthal of Oakland closed his case Thursday by implying jurors should
base their decision on conscience, not federal law.

"Send a message about what you expect and demand from the U.S. government
when they prosecute a case like this," said attorney Robert Eye.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan and U.S. District Judge Charles
Breyer reminded jurors they have vowed to put their feelings aside to judge
the facts and follow the law.

Breyer, citing one of Eye's pleas, told jurors, "You cannot substitute your
sense of justice, whatever that means, for your sense of duty."

This verbal battle over jury nullification -- voting conscience instead of
law -- capped a five-day trial that might have raised more questions than
it answered for jurors. Rosenthal's lawyers were barred from introducing
any testimony or evidence to show that the renowned authority on marijuana
cultivation was working under California's medical marijuana law and
Oakland's ordinances when he grew marijuana in a Mandela Parkway building.

That is because regardless of state and local laws, federal law still
prohibits any and all marijuana cultivation, possession and use. And that,
in turn, is why the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Rosenthal's
home, his grow operation, the Harm Reduction Center medical marijuana club
in San Francisco and other sites Feb. 12, 2002.

If convicted, Rosenthal, 58, faces at least 10 years and as much as life in
federal prison. The jury starts deliberating today.

It is unlikely the jury's eight women and four men all would choose to
nullify and unanimously acquit Rosenthal, so the defense clearly hopes for
a hung jury. If jurors are hopelessly deadlocked, Breyer can declare a
mistrial, letting Bevan try the case again with a new jury.

Rosenthal's attorneys called only two witnesses. One was Alameda County
Supervisor Nate Miley, who testified he visited Rosenthal's operation in
1999 while he was an Oakland City Council member.But when defense attorney
William Simpich asked questions hinting at the marijuana's medical purpose,
Breyer took over the questioning of Miley.

The other witness was Dan Walters, a gardening expert who testified about
differences between rooted plants and non-rooted cuttings.

Bevan and Rosenthal's lawyers disagree about how many plants were seized, a
number that the jury must help decide and that would affect Rosenthal's
sentence.

Outside the courthouse early Thursday, two men handed out cards that on one
side read, "Jurors Have The Power," and on the others side urged jurors to
acquit if they feel a law is unjust, even if a judge says otherwise.

The men would not say if they were handing out the cards for a specific
case. But closer to the courthouse doors, seven protesters stood with tape
over their mouths and placards pinned to their clothes depicting a
marijuana leaf over a red cross, with the words "20 years is not compassion."

Rosenthal's trial has mobilized critics as well as allies.

A videotape sent anonymously to ANG Newspapers from Orlando, Fla.,
contained a clip from an anti-drug documentary of unknown origin, showing
Rosenthal -- evidently years ago -- talking to a crowd in a church.

"With all the talk about medical marijuana, I have to tell you that I also
use marijuana medically. I have a latent glaucoma, which has never been
diagnosed," he says, drawing laughter. "The reason why it has never been
diagnosed is because I've been treating it."

An unseen narrator says, "Rosenthal's joking attitude shows the blatant
false pretenses of the medical use campaign." Then Rosenthal again: "I have
to be honest, there is another reason why I do use marijuana, ... and that
is because I like to get high."

Simpich called the tape a "Mickey Mouse" effort to smear Rosenthal and
hardly startling. "He's been a strident pro-marijuana advocate his entire
life."