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| Medical Marijuana Patient Acquitted |
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Posted by FoM on August 31, 2001 at 08:14:13 PT By Terry Vau Dell - Staff Writer Source: Chico Enterprise-Record 
A Butte County jury late Thursday acquitted a Cohasset man of all charges in what was being termed the area's first medical marijuana trial. Jurors said they believed Joseph Michael Rogers, 44, was out to help the sick, not for personal profit, when he started a local medical-marijuana co-op in 1999.The jury deliberated less than three hours before finding Rogers not guilty of felony cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale. A jubilant Rogers hugged several friends outside the courthouse in Oroville. "I'm obviously very happy," the defendant said, calling the verdict an "incremental victory for Prop. 215," the 1996 initiative that allowed ill people to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation in California. Deputy district attorney Clare Keithley argued to Rogers' jury that he had "aided and abetted" a Paradise couple in cultivating about 190 pot plants in three different locations for the purposes of sale. She had pointed to a newspaper ad Rogers had taken out and a promotional flier he circulated offering to sell marijuana "clones" (clippings) for $10 and up" to co-op members. Rogers' attorney, Kevin Sears of Chico, responded the only thing his client was guilty of was "aiding and abetting the sick in this county." Sears asserted that when Rogers tried to solicit the assistance of local law enforcement in setting up the co-op, he was "rewarded" by being arrested and having his "medicine" confiscated. Following Thursday's acquittal of his client, Sears said: "I hope this has sent a message to the DA loud and clear to leave the sick people of Butte County alone." District Attorney Mike Ramsey, who was present when the verdict was announced, said it will not change his policy concerning medical marijuana cases. Ramsey, who estimated that all marijuana cases comprise less than 1 percent of all referrals to his office, said he generally will not prosecute a medical marijuana patient with six plants or less. "We felt that 190 plants was clearly outside the law," the DA said, referring to Rogers' prosecution. The problem, both sides agree, is that Prop. 215 does not offer any guidance as to how people are to legally obtain medicinal marijuana, or in what amounts. On the witness stand, Rogers testified he and two medical marijuana patients from Paradise, Roger Chambers and Glenda Spangler, decided to start up the Cohasset Cultivator's Commune Project, to help other ill people obtain cannabis clones so they could grow their own pot. After he advised law enforcement of his intentions and even invited them up to see his plants, Rogers testified he sent out the fliers as a promotional tool under the "mistaken belief" that the co-op was legal. Rogers maintained that 21 marijuana plants recovered from his Cohasset Road home were for his personal medical use. He denied any involvement in the 173 marijuana clones that were found at Chambers' and Spangler's home. Charges against the ridge pair had been dismissed last year after a judge ruled that sheriff's deputies did not have probable cause to search their trailer. Following Thursday's verdict, an Oroville juror said: "We could not put him (Rogers) and Spangler together for cultivation and sale." Added the male juror: "We felt they were trying to get a co-op together for medicinal purposes, not to sell the plants and make a profit." Rogers, the son of a conservative Coalinga farmer, called the trial "an educational experience, hopefully for more than just me." He hopes Prop. 215 will be amended to provide more clear-cut guidelines for its implementation. Legislation is currently under consideration in Sacramento that would put medical marijuana under the control of the state Department of Health, while allowing for small community co-ops like the one Rogers had tried to form. Chambers, who at one time was a co-defendant with Rogers, said he felt the acquittal "reflects a changing in people's attitudes about their ability to have control over their medical interests." During the three-day jury trial, Grass Valley Dr. Stephen Banister, one of two physicians who provide the bulk of medical-marijuana recommendations in this area, testified for the defense that he approved marijuana to ease Rogers' pain from a spinal fracture he sustained as a teen-ager. Banister said privately that he has recommended pot for "several hundred" patients for everything from pain reduction to controlling stress and nausea. Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA) Related Article & Web Site: Medicinal Cannabis Research Links Medical Marijuana Defendant Testifies Cohasset Father Butts Heads With Police Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #4 posted by New Mexican on September 01, 2001 at 11:20:22 PT |
| This is fantastic news and another nail in the coffin of prohibition! Thanks Rev. Adler for your faith and perserverence. Your an example setter for all of us! And is elephant bud still around the islands, I assume it is but I never hear anything about it. Just wondering! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 31, 2001 at 21:37:44 PT |
| Congratulations Reverand Adler, I wish you the best and thank you for all you are doing. I hope all goes well for you and that they leave you alone so you can practice your religion the way you believe. Thank You! Judge Declares Mistrial in Marijuana Case [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by Rev. Jonathan Adler on August 31, 2001 at 21:27:58 PT:
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| Ethan, You are right! My trial went to a jury for three days and ended up a mistrial with thte jury hung up over whether my religion was sincere or not!@ I am still afree man with a presumption of innocence, a holder of a Hawaii Public Safety Medical Marijauan Card and ther grower of some of the world's best buds! Peace out from Rev.Jonathan Adler [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on August 31, 2001 at 08:36:10 PT:
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| It will soon reach the point that proscutors will not be able to buy a conviction in cannabis cases. In 2 of the 4 legal cases in which I have recently been involved, the cases did not even get to trial once proposed expert testimony was revealed. The truth hurts, and the Feds and their surrogate pit bull prosecutors on the state and local levels can no longer succeed with tired propaganda, lies and threats. The people know better, and must teach the leash-masters the necessary lessons. [ Post Comment ] |
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