Update: This story is from 2012. Sorry about that. Still, if you missed it then, it’s a very strong point. We need to keep pushing for more of this.
Doug Darrell Acquitted of Marijuana Charges Through Jury Nullification in New Hampshire
Here’s the key point:
After deliberating for six hours, the jury unanimously declared Darrell not guilty.
Juror Cathleen Converse, self-described as a “straitlaced little old lady,” explained her reasoning in an interview with Free Talk Live.
“Mr. Darrell is a peaceful man,” she said. “He grows for his own personal religious and medicinal use. I knew that my community would be poorer rather than better off had he been convicted.â€
[Thanks, Malcolm]
I knew that my community would be poorer rather than better off had he been convicted.
Applause!!!
“straitlaced little old lady†TOTALLY gets it!
a fair trial, what a concept. when fair trials are the norm, the drug war will be over. maybe the so called government will stop with the frivolous prosecution, and go after murderers, rapists and thieves. the drug war is almost as bad for america as the frivolous and expensive foreign wars our oligarchy is fond of.
in some ways the drug war is even more destructive than the recent foreign wars because it has brought corruption and injustice to main st usa. police, the courts and congress have all been contaminated and criminalized by their involvement in this epic social failure.
This story is two years old. Does anyone know if there have been any other nullification cases in NH since? Has there been any increase in the number of prohibition victims rejecting plea deals and demanding jury trials?
I’m not sure whether to jump up and down about “the little old lady that gets it” – or this part:
If this catches on like the large debate has we could see some serious change – like the Lawyer/politician? (I’m drawing a blank as to who said it and where), that basically said – they couldn’t get a jury to convict anybody on marijuana charges.
(I’m thinking it may have been Gavin Newsom… Then again, he may have just been involved in a conversation about it on a show like “Real Time w/ Bill Maher” or something?)
I see all these things about lawyers trying to prevent (“weed out”) jurors that know about Jury Nullification & referring to ‘poisoned’ jury pools…
Why don’t we “poison the entire populace” with this info?
And then let the lawyers & prosecutors trying to prevent people aware of jury nullification from getting onto juries – “be damned”?
EDIT: Okay that would’ve been January 2013 then, maybe this is coming to light again because of the general populace is finely openly critical of the police’s drug-war “tactics” = swat teams, the militarization of the police, etc.
This fits into that larger narrative – that more people are aware of now – who don’t normally read the news?
Nullification is so negative. How about positivication where juries compensate the hapless defendants for the inconvenience of their arrest and trial?
Sorry, Pete, it appeared on my Facebook feed. I was totally convinced it was very recent.
No problem! Happens to me, too.
“It begs the basic question: Are wildly unpopular laws enforceable?”
http://www.nhmagazine.com/March-2014/Understanding-Jury-Nullification/
Jury Nullification
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1168
Also seized were six pounds of marijuana in large glasses, an additional 13 pounds in packaging, 34 marijuana cookies, 32 small brown vials of hash oil, and a pot on the stove with three liters of oil. But after six days of testimony, a Superior Court jury spent only three hours deliberating before finding Kambui, 51, not guilty on all five counts.
Sister Somaya Kambui – 03/20/02
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/714
Ed Rosenthal Raided and Arrested by DEA
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1273
Judge Breyer Gags Discussion of Med-MJ in Rosenthal Trial
POT IS FUN by Ed Rosenthal ecp
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/606