Ganja guru Ed Rosenthal seeks to overturn federal conviction

Ed Rosenthal,
the ganja guru

A strong case can be made that Ed Rosenthal's trials on federal marijuana charges were rigged. Jurors were never allowed to hear that Rosenthal, a recognized marijuana expert often called "the ganja guru," was growing pot at the request of the city of Oakland, California, under the authority of Proposition 215, which legalized marijuana for medical use. Federal law, prosecutors claimed, makes the legal status of marijuana under California law irrelevant. That's a questionable interpretation of the relationship between the feds and the states, but the judge agreed -- setting the stage for Rosenthal's appeal of his conviction.

But even Judge Charles Breyer -- brother to the U.S. Supreme Court justice -- thought the feds were taking their anti-marijuana jihad a bit far. After Rosenthal was convicted by a jury (several members of which later complained they were misled by the court and demanded a new trial), Breyer sentenced the ganja guru to a single day behind bars (rather less than the five years demanded by the prosecution) -- which he had already served.

When that conviction was tossed out and the feds decided to re-try Rosenthal, even though he couldn't be imprisoned, since he'd already served his sentence, Judge Breyer demanded to know who was responsible for pressing the pointless case, and dismissed piled-on charges as "vindictive prosecution."

Rosenthal was convicted again -- and again, jurors were kept in the dark about Proposition 215 and his official role in cultivating marijuana for medical use.

Some people might have just walked away after a half-decade-long battle with the government, glad for a symbolic sentence that was widely perceived as a slap at the feds.

But Rosenthal wants another day in court to make his case for Proposition 215. He wants the conviction overturned for his own sake -- but also to demonstrate to the feds that the people of California meant what they said when they voted to legalize the medical use of marijuana.

Marijuana is medicine in California. If Rosenthal succeeds, the federal government will be forced to admit that means something. And then, maybe, the feds will stop rigging trials.

Contact J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com