As reported in the Sucka Free City article “Stop Snitching,” the federal trial of medical marijuana activist Ed Rosenthal has been bizarre. Read on for a few choice bits from trial transcripts.
Rick Watts had to be hauled into court by the cops, where he took the stand as a hostile witness. He was determined to help the prosecution as little as possible, as is evident from this typical exchange:
PROSECUTOR: The next check is for $5000 cash payable to Pineapple, or for Pineapple, isn't that one of the nicknames of one of the marijuana vendors, Pineapple?WATTS: Could be.
PROSECUTOR: Do you know a man by or a lady by the name of Pineapple?
WATTS: No. That's a fruit.
PROSECUTOR: I understand it's a fruit. But even though it's a fruit, was there a person named Pineapple --
WATTS: Not that I know of.
Meanwhile, the defense lawyer got downright testy with the government’s cooperating witness, Bob Martin:
DEFENSE LAWYER: Are you suffering harassment because you are considered to be a snitch in the medical marijuana community? Is that why you are pissed off or angry?PROSECUTOR: Your Honor, that is inappropriate language.
DEFENSE LAWYER: I'm sorry about the "pissed off." It came out unexpectedly.
Finally, the court spent some time discussing whether Rosenthal had a first amendment right to insult the prosecutor inside the courthouse -- he had allegedly followed the prosecutor down the hall, calling him a coward. Eventually the judge affirmed Rosenthal’s first amendment right to call the prosecutor names, but that didn’t end the conversation:
THE JUDGE: So we have said enough about that issue, right?PROSECUTOR: Yes, Your Honor.
THE JUDGE: Nothing else we have to say to that.
ROSENTHAL: So I can't call him a coward? Your Honor, I just want to understand, can I call him a coward or not?
THE JUDGE: You can call anybody--
ROSENTHAL: Because he is a coward. I'll call it to him in court, and I'll go outside the courtroom and I'll say he is a coward, he's a liar, he's vindictive, and he is in a Rico arrangement with Bob Martin. And I'll say it time and time again until you stop me from saying it. Because once I go outside that courtroom, as you said, I have the First Amendment. [To the prosecutor]: And you are a tattletale and a crybaby.
bob martin is a bookie from georgia. he entered this as a business venture in numbers and destroyed the comapassion programs at the two clubs that the previous providers operrated as a madel for compassionate harm recudtion centers [who were indicted with rosenthal/ken hayes jr. ect] he now operates as retail consuner cannabis distrubtion centers.why is san francisco -a compassionate city and sacnturay for medical cannabis-allowing this? bob has federal immunity for testifying against ed rosenthal who was deputized by the city of oakland to legally grow cannabis. bob is in an agreement with the feds in direct conflict with state and local will of the voters. how can our compassionate cultivators even feel safe at his locations?
Posted at: June 6, 2007 10:18 PM