How evil do you have to be to call the cops on a 53-year-old man with HIV for smoking a joint?

Man, I wish *I* had AIDS...

what a stupid thing to say

what a stupid thing to say

I believe that's what is known as an ironic statement, meant as humor.

It's easy to judge the informant as "evil" because we know the grave medical condition of the man, Stevens.

You must understand that Amarillo is a politically and culturally conservative city. The informant probably gave no thought to calling the police beyond "I smell pot. Pot is illegal."

And no, I don't live there and I'm not from there. I just have a small familiarity with the place.

I agree, its pretty rotten to call the cops on him . . . but was that really what happened? Can you imagine a better guy with a better set of facts to take the stand? So I wonder, was it a tipster, or a test-case-r? Regardless, I'm glad he won!!

I know.

What a stupid thing to say.

What surprises me is that the judge allowed him to present this defense. In California, people arrested by the feds for running medical marijuana distribution centers have been ordered by judges not to utter one word about medical marijuana, and the jury only finds out that it convicted a medical marijuana provider, and not a garden-variety pot dealer, after the trial is over.

Joe @ 8

I can't believe that! I mean, I believe you to be telling the truth, it's just that my brain's unreal-o-meter is pegged at the injustice of it, and I will have to wait for it to settle down before I can accept what you described. I find this is a regular reaction to drug-war stories.

I can see one rogue nut-job of a judge doing that, and then the conviction immediately going to appeal, and the initial trial judge getting his naughty bits handed to him on a plate. But for that to happen repeatedly!

This is one of the reasons I just can't go to the States - it's a beautiful country, I even have family there, but I just can't bring myself to travel to a country with a justice system so severely demented.

Anti-drug hysteria, like anti-pedophile hysteria, is a gateway drug for those seeking to turn us into a police state. Glad to see a little progress being made. Heads must be exploding all over Texas and that can only be a good thing.

a reasonable and logical judge?!? in texas?!?!? my brain is stultifried!

Joe

How is that even legal?

ps:This week's South Park is about the stupidity of banning substances because one of their uses is to alter your state of mind. Very well done (for South Park).

Re: #8

This is legal because it is a Federal Court, not state. It is pretty hard to get in trouble with the local authorities for marijuana in CA unless you're dealing......here are still "underground" clubs (as opposed to medical) in Oakland that sell openly.

This is a good beginning. Hopefully it won't stop here.

Slightly off topic, but it's worth mentioning that Amarillo and Texas are very lucky to have someone like Jeff Blackburn around. Mr. Blackburn represented the family of punk activist Brian Deneke after Brian's untimely death in 1997 following a tragic brawl reminiscent of The Outsiders. He also worked with the NAACP to represent a large number of people falsely convicted in the Tulia Drug Sting of 1999.

...Having gone through uncontrollable vomiting on more than one occasion thanks to DKA, I'm glad to see the Texas courts finally sided on the side of what's right instead of just abiding by the law. And while I can't smoke pot due to a THC allergy, it's good to see that this may set a precedent that could help make it easier for those who need the stuff for medical reasons to get it *and* use it without harassment.

Hey again Pusgums! I was just going to say the same thing. I've been in AMA for 8 years now and the work Blackburn has done is definitely noticed and appreciated by many of us. I believe he relocated away from the Panhandle recently but it's good to see he's still working cases in the area.

# 8:
You're thinking of the Ed Rosenthal case. The state gave him permission to grow medical pot. The feds, angered that they let him do it, swooped in and charged him with multiple felonies, and disallowed the jury from hearing that he had state permission to grow the pot for medical use. When the jurors found out after the trial, they were livid, and said in many public forums they would not have found him guilty if they'd been told the truth. After two trials and many appeals, he eventually served one day in jail.

And more coverage from here, case was dismissed last year as "vindictive prosecution":

"Rosenthal was recently re-indicted after his 2003 conviction was overturned in April 2006 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. After finding out that medical marijuana evidence had been excluded from the 2003 trial, a majority of the jurors that convicted Rosenthal recanted their verdict. Rosenthal was sentenced to just one day in jail. The government was relying on the new charges of tax evasion and money laundering to justify the second prosecution of Rosenthal. The court has now confirmed that this continued prosecution is suspect."

There's your precedent, and here's another in Texas. My guess is that marijuana laws are going to start falling like dominoes after this.

the clouds part and a single ray bursts through...

Boo and hiss to the "anonymous" tipster- mind your own damn business.

Hooray to the Jury for doing your job.
Hooray to the Defense Lawyer for taking the case.
Hooray to the Defendant for standing up for your needs.

1/12 of an ounce... is that even enough for another joint? I got busted once and the cop tried to used the weight of the film canister it was in to make it appear that I had more on the paperwork. Same cop that told me that it is my Constitutional Duty to carry picture ID at all times. Picture ID is in the Constitution? Missed that paragraph, I guess.

Good for Tim Stevens for fighting back. Going to trial for your convictions is a long and hard road, especially when you want to puke all the time. I just hope that when he couldn't hold it in, he aimed it at the DA.

I am so proud of my state.

in texas!?!?

Isn't it cool when people with IQs over 100 and convictions can afford a lawyer?

Taking away an adult's bag of dried flowers (which also happens to be his medicine) is not helping the so-called justice system gain the respect and confidence of the general pubic.

He had a great defense, though. I would think that anyone charged with possession could use it because the harm implicit in being incarcerated will always be greater than any harm prohibition pretends to be preventing. Hell, even a $50 fine is greater harm to most people than pot would wreak on its own, (excluding the purchase price of course).

Regarding juries acquitting people for possession of this particular medicine, it's very important to remember that if you're ever on a jury you're fully within your rights to judge someone NOT GUILTY because you believe the law the defendant was charged under is bogus (for reasons you're entitled to keep to yourself). Though they're very rare, acquittals by this method do happen, but spreading the word increases public awareness which increases the chances of it happening more often.

Jury Nullification may be the only substantive recourse We the People have left at this point to oppose these increasingly egregious offenses against common sense that are happening in our legal system. After all, if jurors could not judge whichever way they choose, there would be no reason to have juries. Just Say No! (to guilty verdicts)

#18

This is true not just in Ed's case, but in all Federal cases. Today in Oakland they got the "Candy Man"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/27/BA72VROAV.DTL&tsp=1

"He had about a twelfth of an ounce of marijuana, resulting in a Class B misdemeanor charge that carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine."

Seriously? Draco himself would blush. No wonder sales tax is so high in Texas - they have to pay for nonsense like this somehow (and they have no state income tax).

Sardenta @ 5

From being born and raised in amarillo and still living here, i can tell you that amarillo is a politically conservative controlled city. But that being said, amarillo is a very rapidly growing city and with that we are seeing that culturally a lot of people here are starting to move more to the left. In fact there is a vote (for the 2nd time) here next month to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. Last time it came up for vote it only lost by like 5%. So amarillo you see is getting more split politically every day.

Also in amarillo there is a small growing number of libertarian here. Me being one of them. We see this verdict as a great win. But it is not uncommon here for the courts here to give someone a few months and a huge fine for small amounts of marijuana. We hope that this verdict maybe will change that some what.

oh and Drew Blood @ #17

Jeff Blackburn i think still keeps a house in amarillo. At his office here, the front is the offices and the back is a three bedroom pad but i don't anyone lives there anymore. But i do see the car he drives there a lot during the day.

Also on Mr. Blackburn, i was good friends with his son Sam in high school and having talk to Mr. Blackburn about civil rights i can tell you i have never meet anyone more passioned about civil right then him. He is one of the reason i am a libertarian today. Even tho sadly i think he is not.

I'm dumbfounded by the penalties or 1/12 of an Oz.

Holy crap! Is there any wonder the prisons are overcrowded. Laws like this just seem like a departure from common sense.

Even a young person who uses recreationally: sending them to jail is like sending them to Criminal College, just dumbfounding.

worth re-posting

http://www.hr95.org/hr95faces.html

@Trye S

I knew Sam as well, though we were just acquaintances. He used to come out to some of the punk shows I was involved with.

I had heard that Blackburn's office was owned by someone else now. I suppose because suddenly there were issues with the "Freedom Wall" getting constantly painted over when it'd always been a free zone for the graffiti writers before.

Anyway, always good to run into neighbors online.

Hey guys, Another friend of Sam here, what a small world. I heard Jeff got the place back when all that shiv went down with the freedom wall. I knew the guy living there and couldn't believe he tried to do that.

Back to subject, this is a great step forward for Texas and I hope it continues till they quit legislating morality.

Trye, I too am a libertarian. Ron Paul!!