Montana jury pool in marijuana case stages ‘mutiny’

[2ND COMING]

A funny thing happened on the way to a trial in Missoula County District Court last week.

Jurors – well, potential jurors – staged a revolt.

They took the law into their own hands, as it were, and made it clear they weren’t about to convict anybody for having a couple of buds of marijuana. Never mind that the defendant in question also faced a felony charge of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.

The tiny amount of marijuana police found while searching Touray Cornell’s home on April 23 became a huge issue for some members of the jury panel.

No, they said, one after the other. No way would they convict somebody for having a 16th of an ounce.

In fact, one juror wondered why the county was wasting time and money prosecuting the case at all, said a flummoxed Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul.
District Judge Dusty Deschamps took a quick poll as to who might agree. Of the 27 potential jurors before him, maybe five raised their hands. A couple of others had already been excused because of their philosophical objections.

“I thought, ‘Geez, I don’t know if we can seat a jury,’ ” said Deschamps, who called a recess.

And he didn’t.

During the recess, Paul and defense attorney Martin Elison worked out a plea agreement. That was on Thursday.

On Friday, Cornell entered an Alford plea, in which he didn’t admit guilt. He briefly held his infant daughter in his manacled hands, and walked smiling out of the courtroom.

“Public opinion, as revealed by the reaction of a substantial portion of the members of the jury called to try the charges on Dec. 16, 2010, is not supportive of the state’s marijuana law and appeared to prevent any conviction from being obtained simply because an unbiased jury did not appear available under any circumstances,” according to the plea memorandum filed by his attorney.

“A mutiny,” said Paul.

“Bizarre,” the defense attorney called it.

In his nearly 30 years as a prosecutor and judge, Deschamps said he’s never seen anything like it.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_d6b1aaca-edfc-527f-ad11-f1691fdc6e3b.html

[Soul Crusher]

great.   I hope more of this happens. 

[Dos Equis]

Pat Robertson approved.  lol . . . .

[2ND COMING]

Pat Robertson approved.  lol . . . .

BB, you seem like a fairly social conservative guy, do you think pot should be de-criminalized? And say..fines were issued for absurd ammounts instead of jail time?

[Dos Equis]

BB, you seem like a fairly social conservative guy, do you think pot should be de-criminalized? And say..fines were issued for absurd ammounts instead of jail time?

I haven't really thought about it much, but not sure I favor decriminalization.  Too many health, driving, work, etc. concerns.  But given the limited prison space we have, I'd honestly rather see violent criminals taking up space instead of recreational users.  

One thing I know is that if we (society) were really going to outlaw a drug, it should have been nicotine.    

[2ND COMING]

I haven't really thought about it much, but not sure I favor decriminalization.  Too many health, driving, work, etc. concerns.  But given the limited prison space we have, I'd honestly rather see violent criminals taking up space instead of recreational users.  

One thing I know is that if we (society) were really going to outlaw a drug, it should have been nicotine.    

interesting. I have a similar stance. If de-criminalized, i dont want people getting high as fuck outside tacobell, toys r us, in front of my kids etc without repercussions.

[Straw Man]

interesting. I have a similar stance. If de-criminalized, i dont want people getting high as fuck outside tacobell, toys r us, in front of my kids etc without repercussions.

alchohol is legal but I'm not aware you can stand around in front of Toys R Us and Taco Bell getting shit faced.

 

[Dos Equis]

interesting. I have a similar stance. If de-criminalized, i dont want people getting high as fuck outside tacobell, toys r us, in front of my kids etc without repercussions.

Or driving, flying a plane, etc. 

[Straw Man]

Or driving, flying a plane, etc. 

and you can't do that on alcholol either

[tonymctones]

until there is a way to determine on the spot that a person is under the influence of marijuana it shouldnt be decriminalized.

I dont really care what you do in the privacy of your own home but once you put someone else in danger its a different story

[Emmortal]

until there is a way to determine on the spot that a person is under the influence of marijuana it shouldnt be decriminalized.

I dont really care what you do in the privacy of your own home but once you put someone else in danger its a different story

There are strip tests used that can determine if someone has smoked recently, they use them all the time in austrailia.

Not a single pot smoker or anyone I know for that mater who supports decriminilization supports driving under the influence of marijuana.  I don't know why people even bring that up.

[tonymctones]

There are strip tests used that can determine if someone has smoked recently, they use them all the time in austrailia.

Not a single pot smoker or anyone I know for that mater who supports decriminilization supports driving under the influence of marijuana.  I don't know why people even bring that up.

b/c its a reality of the issue...

yes more ppl will smoke pot if its legal, yes more ppl will drive while high

can you link the strip tests for us?

[tonymctones]

There are strip tests used that can determine if someone has smoked recently, they use them all the time in austrailia.

Not a single pot smoker or anyone I know for that mater who supports decriminilization supports driving under the influence of marijuana.  I don't know why people even bring that up.

are you referring to the piss strips?

if so thats a tad hard to do on the side of the road, there needs to be a test that can be conducted during a traffic stop not back at a sub station somewhere.

[Emmortal]

are you referring to the piss strips?

if so thats a tad hard to do on the side of the road, there needs to be a test that can be conducted during a traffic stop not back at a sub station somewhere.

Nah the are put om the tongue for a few seconds and then put into an analyzer.  I'm on my iPad but I'll try and dig it up later.

It's decriminalized in Cali now so we'll see if usage actually goes up or not, I'm betting it won't.

[tonymctones]

Nah the are put om the tongue for a few seconds and then put into an analyzer.  I'm on my iPad but I'll try and dig it up later.

It's decriminalized in Cali now so we'll see if usage actually goes up or not, I'm betting it won't.

ahhh ic thats pretty cool yea please link it when you get a chance

and its not decriminalized in cali, its ok with a prescription...

also federal law supercedes state law so if the govt wanted they could come in and give cali the shaft...

[Emmortal]

ahhh ic thats pretty cool yea please link it when you get a chance

and its not decriminalized in cali, its ok with a prescription...

also federal law supercedes state law so if the govt wanted they could come in and give cali the shaft...

It is up to 1oz.  http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/02/local/la-me-marijuana-20101002

Sure the Feds can do whatever they want.  We aren't talking about that issue.

[tonymctones]

It is up to 1oz.  http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/02/local/la-me-marijuana-20101002

Sure the Feds can do whatever they want.  We aren't talking about that issue.

sure we are b/c as or right now the cali law is a sort of limbo, but thats neither here nor there in regards to the smoking...

as far as the strips are concerned, what time frame do these strips work for?

do they pick up thc from a day ago or is it just recently say within the last hour or so?

please post a link to these strips...

[Emmortal]

sure we are b/c as or right now the cali law is a sort of limbo, but thats neither here nor there in regards to the smoking...

as far as the strips are concerned, what time frame do these strips work for?

do they pick up thc from a day ago or is it just recently say within the last hour or so?

please post a link to these strips...

These are the devices used across the UK and in Australia:

http://www.concateno.com/divisions/criminal-justice/products/cozart-dds/

[240 is Back]

1) legalize.  And tax it.

2) prosecute/jail anyone who drives stoned or uses that shit in public.

problem solved!  Treat it like a firearm.   Keep it in your house and you're fine.  Go waving that shite around in public like a dumbass - or endanger others - and your ass goes upstate.

[Emmortal]

1) legalize.  And tax it.

2) prosecute/jail anyone who drives stoned or uses that shit in public.

problem solved!  Treat it like a firearm.   Keep it in your house and you're fine.  Go waving that shite around in public like a dumbass - or endanger others - and your ass goes upstate.

That's what pretty much everyone who is for legalizing it wants.  No one wants the ability to use it anywhere and everywhere, especially driving.  That whole argument, which is continuously brought up by those against it, is completely moot.

[24KT]

Quick question for you pot smokers: On average, how many joints can one roll with 1/16th oz of marijuana?

[Emmortal]

Quick question for you pot smokers: On average, how many joints can one roll with 1/16th oz of marijuana?

1 decent sized one or a few blunts.

[2ND COMING]

Quick question for you pot smokers: On average, how many joints can one roll with 1/16th oz of marijuana?

you can roll 2 nice joints with 1.8-1.9g of pot.

Did you recently pick up some pot, samson?

[24KT]

you can roll 2 nice joints with 1.8-1.9g of pot.

Did you recently pick up some pot, samson?

Thanks for the response. I was wondering just how much marijuana was involved.
I'm not Samson, and I do not smoke pot. Describing it in terms of weight gives me no reference point, but in terms of quantity of marijuana cigarettes does.