New Hampshire Jury Acquits Pot-Growing Rastafarian

[jbauer]

So you're saying move to the white areas on the map?

When people ask, "where to move?", here is another handy chart:

Although one could argue this is also important:

Images from:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate

 

[Keith and stuff]

Even the statist leaning Concord Monitor wrote an editorial against the government's action in 2010.

Monitor editorial
Some places should be safe from spies
October 6, 2010
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/219214/some-places-should-be-safe-from-spies

 

[jbauer]

My guess?

Martial Law.

Please, Martial Law is for pansies. We're headed toward full out authoritarian law

 

[Elwar]

I was not selected for a jury trial when I expressed my belief in what is essentially jury nullification (that you should be able to judge the law as well as the facts).

The judge argued with me, "are we supposed to have each lawyer question each jury member on what laws they feel should or should not be followed?". I told him it was up to them if they want to. That the jury is the last stand between liberty and tyranny.

Several of the jury members told me later that they agreed with me. I was not chosen.

 

[muzzled dogg]

huffpo coverage!

http://huff.to/NxYkK5

 

[The Free Hornet]

So you're saying move to the white areas on the map?

There is a lot of context missing in that map and it is still only averages. All other things being equal, you ought to move to where there is a smaller prison industry to support with your tax dollars or to threaten your liberty. But, if your issue is driving fast, maybe you go to Texas. If medical marijuanna, then maybe go to Oregon or Colorado. Louisiana banned cockfighting in 2008, so I don't know what motivation is left to move there.*


*I'm half joking.

 

[DerailingDaTrain]

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

Every state has eradication programs with the NG now. It started back in the 80s in California and spread.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Positive coverage from the Union Leader.

September 18. 2012 9:03PM
Jury clears NH man of felony pot charge, use was part of Rastafarian religion
By MARK HAYWARD
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120919/NEWS03/709199941

A Belknap County Superior Court jury cleared a Barnstead resident of a felony drug charge last week, siding with a defense lawyer who encouraged the jury to nullify the verdict on the grounds that the marijuana use was part of his Rastafarian religion.

The decision on Thursday cleared Doug Darrell, 59, a piano tuner and woodworker, of manufacture of marijuana, a Class B felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of 3 1/2 to seven years.

“It's a really important development,” said Concord defense lawyer Mark Sisti, who represented Darrell. Legislatures around the country are rethinking marijuana laws, and most New Hampshire residents have no problem with moderate use of the drug by responsible adults, he said.

“We're moving along a path we should have been on years ago,” he said. Key to the case was a decision by Superior Court Judge James O'Neill to instruct the jury about nullification, he said.

Another factor in the case could have been the presence of a Free State Project participant on the jury.

Juror Cathleen Converse of Barnstead said several members of the jury were uncomfortable with the case.

“Mr. Darrell seemed to be the only victim here,” said Converse, a retiree who moved to New Hampshire in 2004 from South Carolina. “Almost everyone said this just shouldn't have happened to these peaceful people.”

 

[angelatc]

The system's next move?

Ban juries.

Nope. Professional jurors.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

Good job, New Hampshire. Very nice work. Very nice work indeed. You just need 3 or 4 more acquittals like this and maybe they'll stop prosecuting. De facto legalization!

 

[Anti Federalist]

Nope. Professional jurors.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed

Aw, hell, who am I kidding, they don't follow any of the others, why would they follow that one...

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

I was not selected for a jury trial when I expressed my belief in what is essentially jury nullification (that you should be able to judge the law as well as the facts).

The first rule of fight club is...

 

[Keith and stuff]

The positive news coverage from this doesn't seem to end. Here is a story by a source frequently posted to RonPaulForums.

Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:25
New Hampshire Jury Nullifies Major Felony Marijuana Case
Written by Alex Newman
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew...re-jury-nullifies-major-felony-marijuana-case

It was clear that he had been growing the marijuana — nobody disputed that. Eventually Darrell was offered a deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail time and fines in exchange for a misdemeanor guilty plea. He refused, however, citing his religion and its view that marijuana is a sacrament. So the case went to trial.

Jurors, led by liberty-minded activist Cathleen Converse of the Free State Project, decided Darrell should be set free. “Mr. Darrell is a peaceful man, he never deals with the darker elements of society and he grows for his own personal religious and medicinal use,” Converse said during an exclusive interview with Free Talk Live, a freedom-oriented talk-radio program. “I knew that my community would be poorer rather than better off had he been convicted.”

Cathleen Converse, the juror who reportedly helped push the case for nullification, however, is among a growing number of Americans who believe that there should be a victim for something to be considered a crime. “Mr. Darrell seemed to be the only victim here,” she explained after the acquittal. “Almost everyone said this just shouldn't have happened to these peaceful people.”

In New Hampshire — the official state motto is “Live Free or Die” — such views have become increasingly influential. That’s in part due to the birth of the Free State Project, an ongoing plan to have thousands of liberty-minded people from across America move to the Granite State to build a more libertarian society. FSP activists have already elected more than a few lawmakers, and their influence continued to grow.

"So far, over 12,750 participants have pledged to relocate to the state, and more than 1,000 have already moved, over a dozen of which are currently elected members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives," said Free State Project President Carla Gericke in a press release touting the acquittal. "Once here, participants are free to pursue their own causes and I'm excited to see that progress is being made."

While the Darrell case probably will not be shutting down the unconstitutional, trillion-dollar federal drug war anytime soon, analysts said it was an important milestone in several respects. For one, it illustrates the growing opposition to imprisoning people for drug use, which has been a key contributor to the fact that the United States has far more prisoners per capita than any other nation in the world. Well over a dozen states have already nullified federal marijuana laws.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Jury Nullification Does Work -- If You're a White Rastafarian
By Chris Roberts Fri., Sep. 21 2012 at 8:09 AM
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/09/jury_nullification_does_work_-.php

But there is another way, another last line of defense: Pin all your hopes on the jury ignoring the law, agreeing with you that you've been wronged, and bailing you out.

Sounds crazy, but the practice -- jury nullification -- is real. And it does work: Last week, a 59-year old Rastafarian was cleared of felony marijuana possession charges after the jury decided it just wasn't right to penalize him.
Granted, the Rastafarian is white and he lives in New Hampshire. But causes like this give Californians hope. As desperate and misguided as it may be.

It sounds desperate -- and, as any attorney would tell you, it is -- but it is a valid way to escape prosecution for a victimless crime, as long as you can find a willing jury.

That's what bailed out 59-year-old Doug Darrell. Darrell is a piano-tuner and harp manufacturer from a rural New Hampshire hamlet. Darrell's turn in the criminal justice system began unluckily: A National Guard helicopter flying over his house in 2009 spotted some pot plants in his backyard, leading to his arrest and prosecution on felony marijuana charges.

But then things swung his way. First, he had a member of the Free State Project on his jury. Members of the FSP want to start a new libertarian society in the Granite State, and this particular Free Stater actively lobbied her fellow jurors to vote to acquit.

Second, the judge in this case instructed jurors prior to deliberations that they had the tool of jury nullification at their disposal. This is very significant. Usually, a judge tells jurors that in fact nullification is not in their power. "Judges in most states, including California, tell juries they have no power to disregard the law," the Chronicle's Bob Egelko reported earlier this summer.

And third, Darrell is a white man with no criminal record, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. That can't hurt.

Is this part accurate? Do judges really do that in most states?

Second, the judge in this case instructed jurors prior to deliberations that they had the tool of jury nullification at their disposal. This is very significant. Usually, a judge tells jurors that in fact nullification is not in their power. "Judges in most states, including California, tell juries they have no power to disregard the law," the Chronicle's Bob Egelko reported earlier this summer.

 

[presence]

Tuesday, May 8, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO--Jurors must follow the law--not their consciences--even when they strongly believe the law will produce an unjust result, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. The court rejected a centuries-old doctrine called "jury nullification," which gives jurors the power to follow their convictions rather than the law. "A nullifying jury is essentially a lawless jury," Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote for a unanimous court.

http://homepage.smc.edu/sindell_steven/AJ3 Folder/Currentevents/aj3.jury.nullific.html


The conscience is ABOVE THE LAW OF MAN.

On June 18, [2012] New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed HB 146, which reads:

“[A] Right of Accused. 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.”

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=40061

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York federal judge has thrown out charges against a man who urges jurors to sometimes disregard the law and vote their conscience.

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/19/ny_judge_tosses_out_jury_nullification_charges/

In 1895, the Supreme Court ruled that jurors had no right, during trials, to be told about nullification. The court did not say that jurors didn’t have the power, or that they couldn’t be told about it, but only that judges were not required to instruct them on it during a trial. Since then, it’s been up to scholars like me, and activists like Mr. Heicklen, to get the word out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/opinion/jurors-can-say-no.html

Since the number of people being charged with victimless crimes has increased exponentially, the U.S. court system itself would crumble under the weight of pending jury trials.

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=40061

crumble! crumble! crumble!

presence

 

[Keith and stuff]

The Union Leader came late to this issue but the main paper in NH is now covering the story extensively. Here is the 2nd of 4 articles about this case and what it means.

September 22. 2012 10:12PM
Some lawmakers see marijuana case aiding push toward legalization
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120923/NEWS03/709239924

As always with my postings of articles, I only post parts of the articles. To read the whole article, click on the link. http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120923/NEWS03/709239924

Some lawmakers who support liberalizing the state’s marijuana laws say the recent acquittal of a Barnstead man who grew marijuana in his back yard for personal and religious use will advance their cause.

State Rep. Timothy Comerford, R-Fremont, cosponsored a bill to legalize and tax marijuana that the House killed earlier this year. He also voted for a decriminalization bill that passed the House by one vote but failed in the Senate.

The recent jury nullification case in Belknap County Superior Court will advance the conversation about decriminalizing marijuana, Comerford said. “It’s going to be slow and take a long time, but I think eventually our laws are going to catch up with the public’s view on this issue.”

Rep. Mark Warden, R-Goffstown, who cosponsored both the legalization and decriminalization bills last session, called the jury nullification verdict “a fantastic outcome.”

Warden expects the acquittal of 59-year-old Douglas Darrell will be cited whenever the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, of which he is a member, debates marijuana bills in the future.

“This shows we need to start being more open-minded and start reflecting the ideas of our constituents,” he said.

Warden said the case points up a “disconnect” between the Legislature and the general public. “The people of New Hampshire ... don’t think growing your own marijuana plants is that big a deal, yet we continue to put blinders on year after year and keep it a criminal offense.”

Comerford said he thinks what happened in the Belknap County case may “sway” some lawmakers who were on the fence about the issue.

“It shows that the citizenry at large is seeing that this law is unjust, and they’re taking heed of what the Constitution says ... and they’re not going to put up with prosecutors railroading peaceful people who aren’t harming anybody else.”

Comerford, who belongs to the New Hampshire Liberty Caucus, said the verdict “actually gives me a lot of hope that the people of New Hampshire are really paying attention to liberty.”

Note, there is no New Hampshire Liberty Caucus. There is a Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire and a New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. They are different groups with different goals.

Defense attorney Mark Sisti, who successfully raised the right of jury nullification in Darrell’s case, said the verdict creates “a whole new paradigm.”

“The laws prohibiting marijuana that were created in the ’30s and ’40s have to be scrutinized again,” he said.

That’s what happened during Prohibition, when jurors refused to convict bootleggers, Sisti said: “People decided not to be hypocrites anymore.”

Jury nullification also thrived during the Civil War, when Northern juries declined to convict those accused of harboring runaway slaves, he said.

 

[Keith and stuff]

September 22. 2012 10:12PM
Juror says religion not a factor in nullification decision
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120923/NEWS03/709239922

It wasn’t Douglas Darrell’s Rastafarian religion that persuaded a Belknap County Superior Court jury to acquit him of growing marijuana recently, according to a woman who served on that jury.

“It was the fact that the system was coming down on a peaceful man, and it wasn’t right,” said Cathleen Converse, a 57-year-old retired accountant and grandmother who moved to New Hampshire with her husband in 2004 in the first wave of the Free State Project.

Converse was one of eight women on the jury that on Sept. 13 used a legal concept known as jury nullification to acquit Darrell, who is 59.

What disturbed jurors most was testimony that a Massachusetts National Guard helicopter hovering over Darrell’s Barnstead home in 2009 had discovered the marijuana plants he was growing for what was described as religious and medicinal use, said Converse, who also lives in Barnstead.

“I was actually appalled,” she said. “Because I live nearby, and a military helicopter over his house is over my house, as well.”

She said nullification “was in everyone’s mind from the beginning.”

That’s because defense attorney Mark Sisti had raised it in his closing arguments, after which both the prosecutor and Judge James O’Neill also addressed it, she said.

Converse said there was “very little” discussion about the Rastafarian religion. Instead, jurors focused first on whether Darrell was guilty of “manufacturing” marijuana; most felt he was.

Then they turned to the judge’s instructions about jury nullification, which they had asked for in writing. The foreman wrote them on the board:

“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.”

^
Yes, the article claims that is the judges instructions, unless I am missing something. That really excites me as that goes further than I thought I judge would be willing to do. I mean, that is (in meaning) the opposite of a judges instructions in CA cases. Seriously, if instructions like that became the norm, it would completely change the nature of criminal courts. Maybe some day it will become common in both New Hampshire and other places.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Additional Reason.com coverage of this issue.

Free Stater Who Helped Acquit N.H. Pot Grower: Jurors Were Thinking About Nullification 'From the Beginning'
Jacob Sullum|Sep. 24, 2012 3:49 pm
http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/24/free-stater-on-nh-jury-that-acquitted-po

The week before last, I noted that Doug Darrell, a 59-year-old Rastafarian who admitted growing marijuana at his home in Barnstead, New Hampshire, had been found not guility of manufacturing a controlled drug after jurors received instructions about their power to acquit even if the prosecution has met its burden of proof. Although Darrell emphasized that he used mariuana as a sacrament and a medicine, one of the jurors recently told the Manchester Union Leader his religion was not a factor in the verdict:

The rarely heard jury instruction that Converse and her fellow jurors received, which Belknap County Judge James O'Neill gave after Darrell's attorney, Mark Sisti, raised the issue of nullification, goes like this: "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." Sisti says he hopes the instruction will become more common as a result of a new law, taking effect in January, that explicitly allows a defendant to inform the jury about "its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy."

State legislators who support legalizing marijuana argue that the Darrell case should help their cause. "It's going to be slow and take a long time," Rep. Timothy Comerford (R-Fremont) told the Union Leader, "but I think eventually our laws are going to catch up with the public's view on this issue." Rep. Mark Warden (R-Goffstown) likewise said the acquittal "shows we need to start being more open-minded and start reflecting the ideas of our constituents." Sisti noted that widespread jury nullification during alcohol prohibition was a harbinger of repeal as "people decided not to be hypocrites anymore."

Here were a few of the comments.

Greg83| 9.24.12 @ 4:12PM |#
The FSP has made great strides in the last 5 years. About 1/4 of the state legislature now consists of libertarian-learners, which is unheard of in modern U.S. politics.

Greg83| 9.24.12 @ 5:19PM |#
AFAIK in nearly all jury cases the judge specifically instructs the juror against the use of nullification. Telling them to judge the facts of the case, not the merit of the law. That's what makes what's happening in NH so remarkable.

robc| 9.24.12 @ 5:43PM |#
At one time, Chief Justice Jay threw out a case because the judge failed to give nullification instructions. Sigh...now one doing it is a pleasant surprise.

 

[muzzled dogg]

September 22. 2012 10:12PM
Juror says religion not a factor in nullification decision
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News

Just when anti federalist thougt it couldn't get better

 

[Anti Federalist]

Just when anti federalist thougt it couldn't get better

And we had people here scoffing that it was "unclear" and "meaningless".

Pfffft...

NH FTW

The rarely heard jury instruction that Converse and her fellow jurors received, which Belknap County Judge James O'Neill gave after Darrell's attorney, Mark Sisti, raised the issue of nullification, goes like this: "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." Sisti says he hopes the instruction will become more common as a result of a new law, taking effect in January, that explicitly allows a defendant to inform the jury about "its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy."