JUDGE GIVES BREAK TO 'GURU OF GANJA'

Money Laundering and Tax Charges Dismissed; Prosecution Accused of
Vindictiveness

A federal judge dismissed money laundering and tax charges against
"Guru of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal on Wednesday, gutting the government's
case by ruling the new charges amounted to vindictive prosecution.

The government said the new charges it filed against Rosenthal in
October resulted from their re-evaluation of the case, U.S. District
Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco noted, but "it is apparent that
it decided to re-evaluate its strategy in response to Rosenthal's
(and his supporters') public criticism of the trial.

"In other words, the government's deeds -- and words -- create the
perception that it added the new charges to make Rosenthal look like
a common criminal and thus dissipate the criticism heaped on the
government after the first trial," Breyer wrote.

Case law states there is a presumption of vindictiveness when the
government increases the charges' severity after the defendant's
successful appeal -- exactly what happened here, Breyer wrote. "As
the government concedes, this is the rare case in which the
presumption applies. And it is a case in which the government has
failed to satisfy its burden of rebutting the presumption."

Rosenthal, 62, offered thanks Wednesday not only to Breyer, but also
to Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan "for
being so honest about his vindictive state of mind, both in court and
in the motions. He was probably unaware of it. He was so caught up in
his hate of marijuana and medical marijuana patients that he didn't
realize how vindictive he was being."

Breyer didn't dismiss marijuana cultivation and distribution charges
against Rosenthal, but prosecutors already have said they won't seek
more than the one-day, time-already-served jail sentence that
Rosenthal received the first time he was convicted of those crimes.

Rosenthal's legal team issued a statement Wednesday calling for no
further waste of federal tax dollars on what's left of the case.
Americans for Safe Access counsel Joe Elford, who argued the
vindictive-prosecution motion on Rosenthal's behalf, said Wednesday
such motions are rarely filed and even more rarely granted.

"The question is, do they drop it now or do they drop it later?" an
ebullient Elford said. "They may well appeal this decision, and when
they lose that, that might be the time for them to drop this."

The U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing its options, spokesman Luke
Macaulay said Wednesday.

Famed for his marijuana cultivation books and the "Ask Ed" column he
wrote for High Times magazine, Rosenthal was convicted of three
marijuana-growing felonies in 2003, more than a year after federal
agents raided sites including his Oakland home, an Oakland warehouse
in which he was growing marijuana and a San Francisco medical
marijuana club he supplied.

Medical use of marijuana on a doctor's recommendation is legal under
state law but prohibited by federal law, so Rosenthal was barred from
mounting a medical defense at trial. A judge sentenced him to one day
behind bars -- time he'd already served.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his convictions in
April, finding that juror misconduct -- a juror's conversation with
an attorney-friend during deliberations -- compromised Rosenthal's
right to a fair verdict and so warranted a new trial. But the court
also rejected Rosenthal's claim of immunity from prosecution as an
officer of Oakland who grew the drug under the city's medical
marijuana ordinance.

Federal prosecutors filed a new indictment with additional charges in
October, essentially claiming Rosenthal, from October 2001 through
February 2002, conspired with Kenneth Hayes and Richard Watts to grow
marijuana at sites on Sixth Street in San Francisco and on Mandela
Parkway in Oakland, laundered marijuana proceeds by buying four money
orders totaling $1,854 during that time and falsified tax returns for
1999, 2000 and 2001 by omitting income from his marijuana distribution.

Hayes and Watts face similar, related charges. Both were charged
after the same 2002 raids that nabbed Rosenthal, but injuries
suffered in a car accident have kept Watts from trial until now and
Hayes fled to Canada just before he was indicted.

Rosenthal had Tommy Chong headline a $125-per-head event to raise
money for Rosenthal's legal fund last month. Chong is of the Cheech
and Chong comedy duo renowned for stoner movie classics such as "Up
in Smoke" and "Nice Dreams," and he was prosecuted a few years ago on
federal drug paraphernalia charges.

"It went exceptionally well, about 200 people were here and Tommy
stayed the whole time. ... The police only came once," Rosenthal said
Wednesday, noting that Oakland police merely asked partygoers to stay
inside Rosenthal's house.