Pubdate: Tue, 21 May 2013
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Greg Moran

FILNER SPEAKS OUT FOR EX-OWNER OF POT SHOPS

SAN DIEGO - San Diego Mayor Bob Filner took the unusual step Monday 
of injecting himself into a federal criminal prosecution, encouraging 
jurors to find the former owner of medical marijuana dispensaries not 
guilty of drug charges if they believe prosecuting such cases is unjust.

Filner, a supporter of medical marijuana use who wants the city to 
adopt regulations allowing outlets to provide the drug, spoke at a 
news conference outside the federal court following a hearing in the 
case prosecutors have brought against Ronnie Chang.

Chang faces 60 charges, including conspiracy to manufacture and 
distribute marijuana and money laundering, stemming from two medical 
marijuana dispensaries he owned in San Marcos and Wildomar.

He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have argued his prosecution is 
unjust because Chang was complying fully with California law, which 
allows medicinal use of marijuana. While state law allows medical use 
of the drug in certain circumstances, it is illegal under federal law.

In a statement released through Americans for Safe Access, a medical 
marijuana advocacy group, Filner endorsed a controversial legal 
concept called jury nullification. This occurs when a jury acquits 
someone of the charges against them, even if they believe the person 
to be guilty, if they disagree with the law that the defendant is 
charged with. Chang is not scheduled to got to trial until November. 
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