New Hampshire Jury Acquits Pot-Growing Rastafarian

[Anti Federalist]

Lionel? Is that you?

'Tis I Joseph...

Babooyah Babooyah Babooyah de - HAH!

 

[FSP-Rebel]

Bam!
Join the Free State Project.

 

[Keith and stuff]

This is the stuff that makes me... Well, what a day. I buried my grandmother today and with her, part of my past. Now I find out that a bill I spent dozens of hours helping pass has just partly saved a man from years in jail. Life is so precious and so fragile BUT, 1 person really can make a difference.

Thanks for posting this. You helped make my day!

 

[Bastiat's The Law]

This year's agenda for the other 49 states: Pass a version of NH's jury nullification law!

Here, here! Get involved locally people, its how we take our country back.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

New Hampshire Jury Acquits Pot-Growing Rastafarian

Jacob Sullum|Sep. 14, 2012 1:00 pm

A few months ago, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a bill declaring that "in all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy." Although the new law does not take effect until next January, a case decided yesterday in Belknap County illustrates the importance of the nullification power it recognizes. A jury unanimously acquitted Doug Darrell, a 59-year-old Rastafarian charged with marijuana cultivation, after his lawyer, Mark Sisti, argued that a conviction would be unjust in light of the fact that Darrell was growing cannabis for his own religious and medicinal use. More remarkably, Judge James O'Neill instructed the jury that "even if you find that the State has proven each and every element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you may still find the defendant not guilty if you have a conscientious feeling that a not guilty verdict would be a fair result in this case."

That is New Hampshire's model jury instruction on the nullification issue, but each judge has discretion whether to give it. In this case, since Sisti argued in favor of nullification and the prosecutor, Stacey Kaelin, argued against it, O'Neill agreed to clarify the law by giving an explicit instruction. The jury, which deliberated for six hours on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, twice asked to hear the instruction again. Sisti, who has been practicing law for 33 years, says this is the first time he has persuaded a judge to tell jurors they have the power to vote their consciences. He hopes the new law will make such instructions more common, if not standard.

Darrell was arrested in 2009 after members of a marijuana eradication task force spotted his plants from a National Guard helicopter flying over his home in Barnstead. Sisti tried unsuccessfully to have the evidence suppressed, aguing that the aerial surveillance was illegal because the helicopter flew below what the Federal Aviation Administration considers a safe altitude, thereby violating Darrell's reasonable expectation of privacy. The Belknap County Attorney's Office, evidently eager to get rid of a case that involved just 15 plants and no distribution, offered Darrell a series of increasingly lenient plea deals, culminating in an offer that entailed a misdemeanor guilty plea with no jail time or fine. Darrell turned all the offers down, Sisti said, because "he didn't think he was guilty of anything; it's a sacrament in his religion." Instead he went to trial on a charge of manufacturing a controlled drug, a Class B felony that carries a penalty of three and a half to seven years in prison. Darrell's first trial ended in a mistrial last November due to prosecutorial error. His second trial ended in yesterday's acquittal.

"Cases like this shouldn't be brought," Sisti says. "And when they are brought, I think that safety valve, that nullification safety valve, is very important. Other states had better start waking up, because without it, people are going to be convicted of very serious charges through hypocrisy. The jury's going to think they can't do anything else, and that's wrong."

[Thanks to Jason and Jared Bedrick for the tip.]

http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/14/new-hampshire-jury-acquits-pot-growing-r

Good for him for not taking a plea deal and sticking up for his own innocence.

 

[AGRP]

Darrell was arrested in 2009 after members of a marijuana eradication task force spotted his plants from a National Guard helicopter flying over his home in Barnstead.

Why is the national guard being used to spy on people?

 

[JK/SEA]

//

 

[Anti Federalist]

Why is the national guard being used to spy on people?

Where you been brother, that's been going on for years now.

War on Us.

 

[muzzled dogg]

EXCLUSIVE: Juror in Cannabis Nullification Case Speaks Out!
September 14, 2012 by Ian
Filed under: Issues, National, New Hampshire, News, Update, Victimless Crimes

As reported earlier, a NH jury has found a man not guilty of growing cannabis in the first-ever (that I know of) use of jury nullification in NH! Now one of the jurors, who happens to be a Free State Project participant, Cathleen, is speaking out.

Below is her written statement about her experience on the jury and here is a link to this evening’s episode of Free Talk Live, where we had Cathleen on-air to discuss.

I don’t believe in divine intervention but providence definitely was in play. To put me in the spot, the enviable spot, of a jury seat with a sympathetic defendant accused of growing pot for personal use. Not only was I lucky enough to be placed on that jury, I was lucky to not have had previous knowledge of the defendant or the case as it all came down rather close to home. About a mile away from my home to be more specific.

On July 9, 2009 a military helicopter buzzed and circled the defendant’s home and likely mine as well. Pictures, warrant, search and seizure ensued. These were the facts laid out before us. There wasn’t any conflicting testimony, none. It’s pot; he grew it; he knew it. But not case closed.

Attorney Sisti’s opening remarks told the story. The facts were only part of the story. The real question was whether a guilty verdict was the just thing to do. Testimony was cut and dried like the evidence.

Closing remarks were more impassioned. Attorney Sisti laid out what nullification was for us. The key to the explanation was the difference between must and should in the judge’s instructions. The prosecutor’s closing arguments were framed to leave the impression that nullification was only for the most extraordinary cases and gave a life or death example.

Deliberations began slowly and disorganized. When someone asked if anyone knew about nullification, I gave a brief explanation of it, mentioning FIJA and that nullification helped end alcohol prohibition. There was little discussion. The facts of the case and whether intent was clear given the defendant’s claim of legal protection for his religious sacramental use of marijuana was discussed.

When the search was discussed, I disclosed that I knew where the house was as it was near my house. This earned me an invitation to the judge’s chambers. I am pleased to say that marble and mahogany were not apparent. His concern was that the jury might be compromised by this information was put before the attorneys and the other jurors. None of this deemed to influence us, so we all went back to deliberating. Close call.

This jury did have a diverse a makeup as can be expected in NH. There were a variety of individuals from a range of walks of life if not ethnic diversity. After a couple of hours, we felt at an impasse. People of both sides of the guilty/not guilty divide couldn’t see a way to come together. The judge instructed us to keep at it. A break for the night was needed to clear thoughts and concerns.

The next morning was more organized and with more discussion of intent. The consensus was forming though toward guilt. We could clearly see the defense was resting its case on the nullification argument. We put the facts aside to give nullification consideration. The written definition was requested and posted on a chalk board. Some discussion occurred regarding what would be extraordinary enough to nullify. Several law and order proponents (not to say we all don’t want some law and order) had serious concerns about the precedent a not guilty verdict would set. What kind of chaos would ensue if this became common? Would finding this defendant not guilty give him a pass to keep on breaking the law? One by one the responses were offered and chewed upon. I fully expected a deadlock. One juror even felt relief at the prospect on the chance that the prosecution would retry.

The turning point was when one of the jurors declared that after reading the definition on nullification its reliance on “conscientious feeling” and “fair result”. It nowhere said extraordinary. And thus the last three jurors agreed that they could nullify.

http://freekeene.com/2012/09/14/exclusive-juror-in-cannabis-nullification-case-speaks-out/

 

[Anti Federalist]

This story just keeps getting better and better.

People, are you tired of getting sand kicked in your face by national politics, corrupt political parties and sleazy, cum drunk, sorry ass excuses of politicians that they keep shoving in your face?

Move to NH.

Be part of history.

It's not the perfect solution but it's head and shoulders above the others.

EXCLUSIVE: Juror in Cannabis Nullification Case Speaks Out!
September 14, 2012 by Ian
Filed under: Issues, National, New Hampshire, News, Update, Victimless Crimes

As reported earlier, a NH jury has found a man not guilty of growing cannabis in the first-ever (that I know of) use of jury nullification in NH! Now one of the jurors, who happens to be a Free State Project participant, Cathleen, is speaking out.

Below is her written statement about her experience on the jury and here is a link to this evening’s episode of Free Talk Live, where we had Cathleen on-air to discuss.



http://freekeene.com/2012/09/14/exclusive-juror-in-cannabis-nullification-case-speaks-out/

 

[presence]

I buried my grandmother today and with her, part of my past.

 

[AlexAmore]

Wow imagine that. The FSP is already influencing major legal and political battles! Wooohooo!!!!!!!

 

[Keith and stuff]

I think this shows that various methods work together in synergy. The NH locals had been trying to get a more informed jury/jury nullification bill passed for years. Free staters and Tea Party works helped together to help them, to get a bill passed. It wasn't the best bill, we still aren't in the majority and have a ways to go but... The Union Leader, Cato and other mainstream institutions helped us promote the new law. Liberty activists are concentrating in numbers in NH. They are fully explaining to the folks new to the liberty movement what jury nullification is and the history of jury nullification. Defense lawyers are picking up on the legal changes. Tea Party folks, free staters and others are putting pressure on judges to be more fair. Some judges and taking not of that and being more fair.

It seems like we definitely still have some weak links. We need a higher concentration of numbers so that more people fully educated about jury nullification are on juries. We need to someone encourage government prosecutors to act more sane and fair. Many prosecutors just want to convict people, they don't care about right or wrong, they just want to add to their win total, at all costs.

What I can do is continue to try to improve the informed jury law. Continue to try to reform bad laws. Continue to attend jury selection and hand out informed jury tri-folds.

2 other important steps are encouraging additional liberty lovers to move to NH. Once liberty lovers are in NH, they should either register to vote or register with the DMV in NH (doing both is also fine) so that they are eligible to be on a jury. If you hate voting, don't even bother to vote, we just need you to be in the jury selection system...

Of course, if it is impossible for you to move, you may still hand out tri-folds at your local court house during jury selection. If you don't like these tri-folds, feel free to design your own. Personally, I'm not a fan of the official FIJA flyers but they are better than nothing so consider using them, even.
http://freekeene.com/2011/11/25/new-jury-outreach-flier-for-all-of-nh/

 

[Indy Vidual]

New Hampshire Jury Acquits Pot-Growing Rastafarian

Jacob Sullum|Sep. 14, 2012 1:00 pm

A few months ago, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a bill declaring that "in all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy." Although the new law does not take effect until next January, a case decided yesterday in Belknap County illustrates the importance of the nullification power it recognizes. A jury unanimously acquitted Doug Darrell, a 59-year-old Rastafarian charged with marijuana cultivation, after his lawyer, Mark Sisti, argued that a conviction would be unjust in light of the fact that Darrell was growing cannabis for his own religious and medicinal use. More remarkably, Judge James O'Neill instructed the jury that "even if you find that the State has proven each and every element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you may still find the defendant not guilty if you have a conscientious feeling that a not guilty verdict would be a fair result in this case."

That is New Hampshire's model jury instruction on the nullification issue, but each judge has discretion whether to give it. In this case, since Sisti argued in favor of nullification and the prosecutor, Stacey Kaelin, argued against it, O'Neill agreed to clarify the law by giving an explicit instruction. The jury, which deliberated for six hours on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, twice asked to hear the instruction again. Sisti, who has been practicing law for 33 years, says this is the first time he has persuaded a judge to tell jurors they have the power to vote their consciences. He hopes the new law will make such instructions more common, if not standard.

Darrell was arrested in 2009 after members of a marijuana eradication task force spotted his plants from a National Guard helicopter flying over his home in Barnstead. Sisti tried unsuccessfully to have the evidence suppressed, aguing that the aerial surveillance was illegal because the helicopter flew below what the Federal Aviation Administration considers a safe altitude, thereby violating Darrell's reasonable expectation of privacy. The Belknap County Attorney's Office, evidently eager to get rid of a case that involved just 15 plants and no distribution, offered Darrell a series of increasingly lenient plea deals, culminating in an offer that entailed a misdemeanor guilty plea with no jail time or fine. Darrell turned all the offers down, Sisti said, because "he didn't think he was guilty of anything; it's a sacrament in his religion." Instead he went to trial on a charge of manufacturing a controlled drug, a Class B felony that carries a penalty of three and a half to seven years in prison. Darrell's first trial ended in a mistrial last November due to prosecutorial error. His second trial ended in yesterday's acquittal.

"Cases like this shouldn't be brought," Sisti says. "And when they are brought, I think that safety valve, that nullification safety valve, is very important. Other states had better start waking up, because without it, people are going to be convicted of very serious charges through hypocrisy. The jury's going to think they can't do anything else, and that's wrong."

[Thanks to Jason and Jared Bedrick for the tip.]

http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/14/new-hampshire-jury-acquits-pot-growing-r

Amazing story, thanks.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Yahoo news is covering what we did in New Hampshire. The more we concentrate our numbers. The more we educated. The better we makes the laws. The more coverage we bring to these events.

We can make it RAIN!

New Hampshire Jury Nullifies its First Felony Marijuana Case
http://news.yahoo.com/hampshire-jury-nullifies-first-felony-marijuana-case-072023427.html

Doug Darrell beat the odds and walked home from his trial as a free man on Friday, a major win for the state’s new jury nullification law. Facing felony drug cultivation charges for growing marijuana plants behind his house, the 59-year-old Rastafarian saw all of the charges against him dropped after jurors in his trial successfully convinced their peers to nullify the case on the grounds that Darrell was simply trying to obey the customs of his religion.

“Many of us wondered what kind of precedent this would set,” said juror and FSP participant Cathleen Converse in an exclusive interview with Free Talk Live. “But after chewing on all of the possibilities and re-reading the definition of nullification, we all decided that the only fair thing to do was to vote with our consciences and acquit the defendant of all charges.”

Converse describes herself as a “straight-laced, little old lady” who moved to New Hampshire from South Carolina in June of 2004. In 2003 she joined the Free State Project because she felt that her family’s future “would be better spent among those who don’t think we’re strange for wanting to rely on ourselves, and to work together to bring more liberty into our lives sooner rather than later.”

It’s a groundbreaking win for the participants of the Free State Project who helped get HB 146 signed into law. As an organization, the Free State Project does not back any political candidates nor specific legislation. Founded in 2001 with the intent to attract 20,000 liberty-loving individuals to New Hampshire in order to restore the Constitutional principles of personal responsibility and freedom, members of the Free State Project have quickly grown into the most significant liberty-based activist group in the country.

Read the rest of the article. http://news.yahoo.com/hampshire-jury-nullifies-first-felony-marijuana-case-072023427.html

 

[cjm]

This year's agenda for the other 49 states: Pass a version of NH's jury nullification law!

Yup. My thoughts exactly.

 

[muzzled dogg]

A major victory is scored for jury nullification with the acquittal of felony marijuana charges – and it’s all thanks to a “straight-laced little old lady” juror and participant of the Free State Project

gotta love it

 

[Anti Federalist]

The system's next move?

Ban juries.

 

[phill4paul]

The system's next move?

Ban juries.

My guess?

Martial Law.

 

[Keith and stuff]

It looks like the story is now up on the Daily Paul. It already has 128 votes. http://www.dailypaul.com/255058/yah...ury-nullifies-its-first-felony-marijuana-case