Pubdate: Sat, 20 Oct 2012
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2012 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Jeff Edelstein

JURY UPENDS MARIJUANA LAW, NJWEEDMAN WALKS FREE

The Weedman did it.

Make no mistake about it: The victory Ed Forchion -- the NJWEEDMAN --
enjoyed on Thursday in the Burlington County Courthouse certainly sets
the stage for other marijuana users to upend the unjust New Jersey
(and national) marijuana laws.

I'll get to the "unjust" part later, but first, a rehash (pun
intended) of the facts: Forchion was pulled over with a pound of pot
in his car and $2,000 in cash. According to the state laws, he was
facing a mandatory minimum of three years in jail and a $25,000 fine
for distribution. Forchion, who has been fighting the marijuana laws
in this state (and nation) for over 15 years, claimed it was for his
own purposes. Medicinal, to be clear. The county prosecutor pointed
out during the trial that Forchion had enough grass to roll 6,000
joints, which would seem to poke a hole in the "personal use" defense.
I mean, how many joints could Forchion smoke in a day? Two? Five? Ten?
(Actually, I don't want to know.)

Forchion was seeking a hung jury, hoping to get a pothead-friendly
juror to "nullify" the law. (Quick and dirty "jury nullification"
definition: The jury decides the law is unjust, so they acquit.)

But what Forchion got was something much more than one person fighting
for him. He got 12. A unanimous jury verdict, 12-0.

RELATED ASSETS

"Two of the jurors talked to me," Forchion said in a Facebook message.
"They rejected the state's case, the state's law and agreed with me
about the flawed marijuana laws."

So at least two jurors were on board with Forchion, and the other 10
either saw it his way, or, at the very least, didn't think the
prosecution proved its case. Either way it was, quite frankly, a giant
middle finger to the state's marijuana laws, and quite possibly a
soon-to-be textbook example of how to beat those same laws.

Make no mistake: This case will be noted.

"What he did was not easy to do," said Keith Stroup, the legal counsel
for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
"There are probably thousands of marijuana cases each year in which
the defendant tries for acquittal, and it is seldom successful. This
is a positive sign for full legalization."

Stroup did caution that even though the trial was a victory for anyone
on the side of legalizing marijuana, it is not precedent-setting.

"It's not available as a legal precedent because it was not an
appellate court decision. Future defenses will not be able to argue
any legal precedent," Stroup said. "But anytime you have a case of
jury nullification that's highly reported in the press, will give
others courage to pass up plea negotiations and go to trial. And if
happens one or two or three more times, if it becomes more common,
then jurors find out about a power they didn't know they had. Lawyers
cannot argue for jury nullification. It will result in mistrial,
contempt of court. A lawyer has to get as close to that line as
possible without telling the jurors. Jurors have to figure out the
power themselves and they usually don't know."

But Forchion's jury knew. He told them, before Judge Charles Delehey
told him to shut up, and Forchion did a tremendous public relations
job (as always) getting the media (present company included) to
mention jury nullification in print and on air.

And it all added up to the 12-0 verdict.

"Unanimous," Stroup said. "The guy does have some charm, and it's a
clear statement the jury recognized they had that power to nullify the
law."

Well played, Weedman. Well played.

Anyway, I promised you the "unjust" thing. OK. Well I could talk about
medical marijuana, or the fact weed is on par with heroin(!) according
to the feds, or the simple truth the harm level of pot is far below
that of alcohol  but instead, I'll just go back to my oldest and most
obvious example of the unjust nature of the laws. How is possible
lawmakers routinely joke about how they smoked pot when they were
kids, and yet these same lawmakers allow over 800,000 Americans --
about 100 every hour -- to be arrested for marijuana use?

It's a fair question to ask President Barack Obama. Or former
Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. And former New Jersey
Senator Bill Bradley. And New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and New
York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Senator John Kerry, former GOP VP
candidate Sarah Palin, and 

Unjust laws. Plain and simple. And Forchion smoked them. (Again. Pun.
Intended.)
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt