Pubdate: Tue, 17 Dec 2002
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2002 The Sacramento Bee
Contact:  http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: Denny Walsh, Bee Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ocbc.htm (Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club)

POT BACKER CONVICTED OF TAINTING JURY

The Oakland Cannabis Co-Op Director Handed Out A Flier At A Marijuana 
Grower's Trial.

A leader in California's medical marijuana movement was convicted in 
Sacramento federal court Monday of attempting to influence the outcome of a 
fellow pot advocate's trial. Jeff Jones, who has gained national notoriety 
as executive director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, was 
found guilty by a magistrate judge of passing out a flier in front of 
Sacramento's federal courthouse designed to sway prospective jurors for the 
trial of Bryan Epis.

Jones' non-jury trial came to an abrupt end in the early afternoon. 
Prosecutor Christopher Hagan rested, and defense attorney Michael Bigelow 
moved for a dismissal, arguing that the government's evidence did not 
support the charge and that Jones has been unfairly singled out.

In denying the motion, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter A. Nowinski rejected a 
free-speech argument. He also declared that the contents of the sheet Jones 
handed to people entering the courthouse on the June morning Epis' trial 
was to begin "was clearly an attempt to influence jurors."

Recalling Bigelow's argument that the flier's content was purely 
"informational," Nowinski said that "it is too much information for an 
improper purpose."

At that point, Bigelow decided to forgo the presentation of any evidence, 
and both attorneys waived closing arguments.

"I find the defendant guilty as charged," Nowinski then said. Sentencing 
was scheduled for Feb. 27.

Hagan called a number of prospective jurors who testified that Jones handed 
the sheet to them in the courtyard of the building at 501 I St. as they 
approached the front door. He also played a videotape from a surveillance 
camera showing Jones' encounters with several people.

Some witnesses recalled Jones urging them to "Vote your conscience"; 
telling them, "I have a friend on trial for growing medical marijuana"; or 
saying, "The feds haven't caught up with state law" allowing medicinal use.

Bigelow said there was no evidence his client "didn't have a First 
Amendment right to be there" and that there were others distributing and 
displaying material in support of medical marijuana. He also said the flier 
Jones was distributing "had been disseminated over the Internet and 
available to the entire world for months."

"Why we are singling out one individual for passing it out is, to me, 
incomprehensible," Bigelow said.

Nowinski told him there are time-and-place restrictions on First Amendment 
rights in this instance. The judge said that the presence of other 
demonstrators and availability of other material do not excuse his client.

Jones, 38, faces a maximum of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine on the 
misdemeanor conviction. Nowinski also could impose restitution equal to 
what it cost the government when U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. 
disqualified the entire original group of 42 prospective jurors and 
convened a second panel.

The second group and those ultimately selected to serve on the Epis jury 
were bused each day between the basement of the courthouse and a distant 
location to avoid demonstrators at the building.

Jones and his Oakland club took the fight for medical marijuana to the U.S. 
Supreme Court last year but lost. The court ruled that medical necessity 
offers no defense to federal prosecution.

Epis, the moving force behind a cannabis buyers club in Chico, was found 
guilty in July of growing marijuana. Damrell sentenced him to 10 years in 
prison. The conviction has been appealed.

The 35-year-old Epis financed the Chico club after voters approved 
California's 1996 initiative allowing the use of doctor-recommended 
marijuana for serious illness and chronic pain. His prosecution was the 
first federal criminal case involving such an organization to reach a jury.

After being instructed by Damrell that medical necessity is not a defense, 
the jury took less than four hours to decide Epis' fate.

The case became a rallying point for medical-marijuana proponents 
nationwide, who view it as the ultimate injustice to come from the chasm 
between state and federal law.

The sheet handed out by Jones had been downloaded from Epis' Web site and 
was Epis' written rendition of the events leading to his trial. It was 
posted on the Internet early this year.

A notice of the June 24 trial date was added in the spring, urging his 
supporters to attend and asking, "Please be respectful if you come in the 
courtroom, and while protesting."

Damrell and Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Wong suggested that Epis was 
behind the dissemination of the material and threatened him with a separate 
prosecution for contempt. That has never materialized, but Wong and federal 
drug agents are trying to tie Epis to the incident.

On that day, demonstrators displayed pro-medical-pot placards and handed 
out varied material, including a "jury nullification" pamphlet saying that 
judges rarely tell jurors of their right "to judge the law itself and vote 
on the verdict according to conscience."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom