Did you think that you were permitted to acquit under these circumstances?

We didn't know what we could do under the law because the judge's instructions were very narrow. He said we had to judge this case by federal law only, that federal law takes precedence over California law, that this is a federal courtroom, and that we could only consider evidence that was presented in the trial. We felt we were strictly bound by those guidelines. The judge could have given us other instructions and informed us of our right of juror nullification, but he didn't. We didn't know that we had a right to do anything else other than follow his instructions and follow the letter of the law and convict this man who was presented to us as a major grower. For example, we didn't know that all of his marijuana was for medical purposes. There was no way for us to know that. And even if we might have suspected that, we were so intimidated by the process and by the hostility -- the outright hostility -- of the judge toward the defense. We watched him be so hostile to them, and the prosecutor being so hostile, and here we are 12 people sitting there thinking -- I don't know how many of them thought it, but I did -- "Wow, what's the judge going to do to me if I do something I'm not supposed to do?"

Did any of that hostility suggest to you, "Boy, this defendant must be a really bad guy?"

I knew that they were trying to portray him as a really bad guy. But if you look at him, you can see that he is not. He's the same age I am, and he seems like a really nice guy, and I thought, "What's going on here?" You know, it's so amazing to me that we could have done this. We're all sitting in the deliberation room, and not a single one of us ever felt free to even broach the subject of, "Guys, what are we doing here? Why are we doing this? Does everybody feel OK with this?" And we were all having our doubts, and we were just like sheep. It still amazes me that we did that.

Who is to blame here? You've obviously got a lot of hostility toward the judge, but Congress adopted this law, and the Justice Department chose to prosecute this case.

I'm angry at the system. I'm angry at all of them. The judge was obviously operating within his legal parameters, but he chose the strictest interpretation, and he chose to be fairly dictatorial, and he chose to make it as difficult as possible for the defense to present their evidence and their witnesses. That was obviously his choice, so he has taken an obvious stand. The prosecuting attorney was equally responsible. The feds obviously went after Rosenthal. They were out to get him because of who he was. And that occurred to me in deliberations. I thought, "Why Ed Rosenthal? Why this guy? There's got to be something else going on here."

But didn't that cut both ways in your mind? The Justice Department's interest in Rosenthal might make you think that it had some ulterior motive in going after him, or it might just make you think that the Justice Department considered Rosenthal a serious criminal.

Yeah, but the one thing the defense managed to get out is that he had written two books. [Both were how-to books on marijuana.] Alarms went off in my head when I heard that. I thought, "Wait a minute, this guy has written books? OK, who is he?" I'm sitting there in the trial thinking, "Who is this guy?" And there was no way for us to find out. We weren't reading newspapers or watching TV or listening to the radio because the judge told us not to.

When did you first figure out the truth about Rosenthal?

About five minutes after we walked out of the courtroom. I was devastated. I just could not believe it. Three of us carpooled back up north together, and we could hardly talk. And then I got home and told my husband and my brother and another friend who was around, and their reaction just astounded me. My husband was so upset he left the house and didn't come back for hours. He couldn't even talk to me. He now understands what happened. But I was so upset. I was sitting here thinking, "How did I ever get involved in something like this? How could I, me, who I am, have done what I did to Ed Rosenthal and to his family and to all of the medical marijuana patients?" I was sick.

So you feel some personal responsibility for this?

I do.

But at the same time, you feel that you were constrained from doing anything about it.

We were. We were constrained. And honestly, I was fearful about taking a stand and trying to stick with it unless I could get some support from some of the other jurors, and those of us who made attempts didn't get a lot of support because it was obvious we were committed to following the law. I didn't know what would happen to me if I didn't.

What did you think might happen to you?

You know, I had no idea. I didn't know if I would be prosecuted myself somehow. We're so ignorant of the law, and so ignorant of normal courtroom procedure, and so ignorant of jurors' rights in particular, that we had no idea. I didn't know I could sit there and say, "I can't do this. I'm not going to convict this man."

Have you spoken with Rosenthal since you handed down your verdict?

We actually ran into him in the elevator on the way up to the [bail] hearing. The door opened, and we stepped in and there he was with his family. I hugged him and I told him I was sorry. I was crying. He was with his wife and daughter, and the three of them couldn't have been nicer to us. I was standing there in tears, and they said, "Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. We know what happened."

And did you speak directly with Rosenthal?

I did have an opportunity to speak with him, yeah. He's taking such a positive attitude toward this. He said, "Whether or not I go to prison, this has become a much larger issue because of what you're doing, and we will be able to accomplish much more because of the outcome of the trial and the fact that all of you have come forward." And that's how he is looking at it. He's not looking at his years in prison. He's looking at what we can do now with the platform that we have.

And what did you tell him?

I told him that he's an amazing man, that I'm sorry I didn't know who he was before, and that I'm committed to trying to help him get a new trial. I don't know if I have any clout in that at all. Obviously, I have no legal standing at all. But he knows that I'm willing to do any public speaking or talk to as many people as I can to try to get the word out and to make people understand. There are major issues here. We're dealing with medical marijuana here, we're dealing with states' rights, we're dealing with jurors' rights, and we're dealing with Ed Rosenthal needing a fair trial. The whole system is so flawed.

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