LogicSoDeveloped
Bluelighter
MOUNT HOLLY — Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion hopes the not guilty verdict a Burlington County Jury rendered in his pot distribution trial plants a seed for other medical marijuana patients and spark change in the law.
“I think other patients should argue the same points. They can call it the weedman defense,” he said after a jury of 10 women and two men returned the verdict Thursday after deliberating for about an hour to end the three-day trial. “The law is wrong. My jury heard that and understood that.”
Forchion, who claims dual residency in Pemberton Township and Los Angeles, was a acquitted of possession with the intent to distribute a pound a marijuana that police found in his trunk during a traffic stop on April 1, 2010.
The state contended the sheer volume in his possession and the some $2,000 in cash he had in his pocket at the time of arrest were tell-tale signs of distribution despite the absence of other packaging paraphernalia.
Forchion always maintained he was no drug dealer, but brought the marijuana with him from California where he is a licensed medical marijuana patient for his own, personal use while on a trip to New Jersey to visit his family.
“I don’t use it the way the state says. To me, it’s medicine, it’s food,” Forchion said in his closing arguments, noting for the jury that he had been eating pot-laced cookies throughout the trial. “I feel I’m the victim of a flawed law.”
Forchion is believed to be the first defendant in New Jersey to be allowed to present his use of medical marijuana as a defense in a criminal trial, garnering his case attention statewide and beyond as the legalization debate continues.
While he wasn’t allowed to discuss the New Jersey law, which was not in effect when he was arrested nor would it now allow him to legally possess the drug here, Forchion was able to tell the jury he was a licensed medical marijuana user in California.
At an earlier trial this spring, he was convicted of possession but that jury could not reach a unanimous decision on the more serious distribution charge and the Rastafarian was retried this week. Judge Charles Delehey, who presided over both trials, will be sentenced in January for possession and could get a up to 18 months in prison, but it’s likely he will get a probationary term.
The longtime activist and author used his criminal case, with the potential exposure of five to 10 years in prison, to rally his cause and spark debate.
In pretrial motions, which were subsequently barred from being argued before the jury, Forchion challenged the constitutionality of the state’s criminal code now that New Jersey has a Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana law that recognizes the benefits of cannabis.
He said Thursday he looks forward to the state Appellate Division reviewing that potion when he appeals the possession conviction.
Forchion, who represented himself with the help of court-appointed attorney Donald Ackerman, counted on having a few “potheads” or sympathizers on his jury to keep him out of prison. He said Thursday he thought he was in for anther deadlocked jury and that the “not guilty” verdict came as a surprise.
“I expected to get one jury and but I got 12,” he said. “I didn’t expect it and I am very grateful. I think the jury sent a huge message to the state, the governor and the prosecutor’s office. People don’t want marijuana users hauled into court and locked up in jail.”
Forchion, who wore his “Marijuana … It’s OK. It’s Just Illegal” T-shirt for his final day of trial, said he plans to remain in New Jersey for another week or so to campaign for Congress in New Jersey’s Third District.
The Weedman’s case highlighted the vast difference in state medical marijuana laws and the national debate over legalization. While Forchion was charged here and faced prison time, in California he ran a successful medical marijuana dispensary.
It was closed when the DEA raided it as he waited for trial in New Jersey, effectively putting him out of business even though he was not charged with a crime. He said Thursday once new of his acquittal reached DEA agents in Los Angles he received a call that he could pick up some of his business equipment that was seized.
Shortly before he started his retrial, Forchion opened a new dispensary in California, calling it Luciano’s Place, in honor of the assistant prosecutor in his case.
He almost didn’t get to hear the verdict, and his supporters’ applause of the jury as they left the courtroom. During his closings, Forchion was nearly held in contempt of court for trying to advance his jury nullification argument
Delehey quickly stopped him, reminding him of his earlier ruling that barred the argument. Forchion began verbally sparring with Delehey, who then ordered the jury out of the room and told the defendant he would be held in contempt if he continued to ignore the court’s orders.
“If you want to make a martyr of yourself, the court will deal with you,” the judge said. “You’ve done everything you can to disrupt this trial.”
Jury nullification would allow the jurors to disregard the law they were ordered to follow in considering the case and acquit a defendant, no matter what the evidence, in effect nullifying or invalidating the law.
Forchion ted the line and abandoned his blatant jury nullification pitch when court resumed.
The state alleged that because of the sheer volume of the marijuana, his intent was to distribute it. Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Luciano told the jury that the case was not “a political referendum” on medical marijuana or legalization.
“It is not a litmus test on the war on drugs,” he said.
Luciano also said the numbers and common sense should lead to a guilty verdict, noting that Forchion had enough pot on him to smoke for months, not a brief visit.
By Luciano's calculations, Forchion would have to smoke two to three joints an hour nonstop for 24 hours to get through the pound of marijuana in about six months. NJWeedman disputed the prosecutor’s math and said it doesn’t fairly portray how he uses the drug.
“He had more than any person could smoke on their own,” Luciano said, reminding the jurors that they didn’t have to find he was selling it to convict him and that sharing also constitutes distribution. “He was going to distribute this for profit. He was going to distribute it because that’s what he believes, that’s his drug, that’s his food and that’s his plant.”
source: http://m.phillyburbs.com/news/crime...82d-0887-53f2-a7d5-c7c10bc8b958.html?mode=jqm
“I think other patients should argue the same points. They can call it the weedman defense,” he said after a jury of 10 women and two men returned the verdict Thursday after deliberating for about an hour to end the three-day trial. “The law is wrong. My jury heard that and understood that.”
Forchion, who claims dual residency in Pemberton Township and Los Angeles, was a acquitted of possession with the intent to distribute a pound a marijuana that police found in his trunk during a traffic stop on April 1, 2010.
The state contended the sheer volume in his possession and the some $2,000 in cash he had in his pocket at the time of arrest were tell-tale signs of distribution despite the absence of other packaging paraphernalia.
Forchion always maintained he was no drug dealer, but brought the marijuana with him from California where he is a licensed medical marijuana patient for his own, personal use while on a trip to New Jersey to visit his family.
“I don’t use it the way the state says. To me, it’s medicine, it’s food,” Forchion said in his closing arguments, noting for the jury that he had been eating pot-laced cookies throughout the trial. “I feel I’m the victim of a flawed law.”
Forchion is believed to be the first defendant in New Jersey to be allowed to present his use of medical marijuana as a defense in a criminal trial, garnering his case attention statewide and beyond as the legalization debate continues.
While he wasn’t allowed to discuss the New Jersey law, which was not in effect when he was arrested nor would it now allow him to legally possess the drug here, Forchion was able to tell the jury he was a licensed medical marijuana user in California.
At an earlier trial this spring, he was convicted of possession but that jury could not reach a unanimous decision on the more serious distribution charge and the Rastafarian was retried this week. Judge Charles Delehey, who presided over both trials, will be sentenced in January for possession and could get a up to 18 months in prison, but it’s likely he will get a probationary term.
The longtime activist and author used his criminal case, with the potential exposure of five to 10 years in prison, to rally his cause and spark debate.
In pretrial motions, which were subsequently barred from being argued before the jury, Forchion challenged the constitutionality of the state’s criminal code now that New Jersey has a Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana law that recognizes the benefits of cannabis.
He said Thursday he looks forward to the state Appellate Division reviewing that potion when he appeals the possession conviction.
Forchion, who represented himself with the help of court-appointed attorney Donald Ackerman, counted on having a few “potheads” or sympathizers on his jury to keep him out of prison. He said Thursday he thought he was in for anther deadlocked jury and that the “not guilty” verdict came as a surprise.
“I expected to get one jury and but I got 12,” he said. “I didn’t expect it and I am very grateful. I think the jury sent a huge message to the state, the governor and the prosecutor’s office. People don’t want marijuana users hauled into court and locked up in jail.”
Forchion, who wore his “Marijuana … It’s OK. It’s Just Illegal” T-shirt for his final day of trial, said he plans to remain in New Jersey for another week or so to campaign for Congress in New Jersey’s Third District.
The Weedman’s case highlighted the vast difference in state medical marijuana laws and the national debate over legalization. While Forchion was charged here and faced prison time, in California he ran a successful medical marijuana dispensary.
It was closed when the DEA raided it as he waited for trial in New Jersey, effectively putting him out of business even though he was not charged with a crime. He said Thursday once new of his acquittal reached DEA agents in Los Angles he received a call that he could pick up some of his business equipment that was seized.
Shortly before he started his retrial, Forchion opened a new dispensary in California, calling it Luciano’s Place, in honor of the assistant prosecutor in his case.
He almost didn’t get to hear the verdict, and his supporters’ applause of the jury as they left the courtroom. During his closings, Forchion was nearly held in contempt of court for trying to advance his jury nullification argument
Delehey quickly stopped him, reminding him of his earlier ruling that barred the argument. Forchion began verbally sparring with Delehey, who then ordered the jury out of the room and told the defendant he would be held in contempt if he continued to ignore the court’s orders.
“If you want to make a martyr of yourself, the court will deal with you,” the judge said. “You’ve done everything you can to disrupt this trial.”
Jury nullification would allow the jurors to disregard the law they were ordered to follow in considering the case and acquit a defendant, no matter what the evidence, in effect nullifying or invalidating the law.
Forchion ted the line and abandoned his blatant jury nullification pitch when court resumed.
The state alleged that because of the sheer volume of the marijuana, his intent was to distribute it. Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Luciano told the jury that the case was not “a political referendum” on medical marijuana or legalization.
“It is not a litmus test on the war on drugs,” he said.
Luciano also said the numbers and common sense should lead to a guilty verdict, noting that Forchion had enough pot on him to smoke for months, not a brief visit.
By Luciano's calculations, Forchion would have to smoke two to three joints an hour nonstop for 24 hours to get through the pound of marijuana in about six months. NJWeedman disputed the prosecutor’s math and said it doesn’t fairly portray how he uses the drug.
“He had more than any person could smoke on their own,” Luciano said, reminding the jurors that they didn’t have to find he was selling it to convict him and that sharing also constitutes distribution. “He was going to distribute this for profit. He was going to distribute it because that’s what he believes, that’s his drug, that’s his food and that’s his plant.”
source: http://m.phillyburbs.com/news/crime...82d-0887-53f2-a7d5-c7c10bc8b958.html?mode=jqm
