On Monday, March 31, in the case of Commonwealth v. Cusick and Stroup, the defense team filed a Motion to Reconsider, along with three new expert witness affidavits.

The defendants had previously filed a Motion to Dismiss, along with an extensive supportive affidavit from Lester Grinspoon, M.D., requesting a full evidentiary hearing where we would proffer testimony that would support our position that there is no longer a rational basis for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to criminalize the personal use of marijuana by adults. It has been 29 years since the Massachusetts courts last made a comprehensive constitutional review of their marijuana laws, and a lot of new scientific evidence is now know about marijuana, and it is important for the courts to take another look at this matter. More than 7,300 marijuana smokers were arrested in the last year in Massachusetts, causing significant harm to the lives and careers of those individuals. More after the jump…

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When the court clerk finally called our case, the judge almost immediately called the attorneys to a bench conference, where he quickly indicated he would not have the time to hold this evidentiary hearing, but that he would refer the case to another judge in another courtroom, and we would have our evidentiary hearing that very day.

Attorney Matt Feinberg; law student Brendan Hickey; Co-Defendant Rick Cusick; Lester Grinspoon, M.D.; Co-Defendant Keith Stroup; Professor Charles Nesson; and Keith Saunders, Ph.D.

We had actually filed a motion to dismiss the case, based on our allegation that the marijuana laws are unconstitutional, and we had requested a full evidentiary hearing where we could call a number of witnesses to make our case. We had expected that the 30-page affidavit from Lester Grinspoon, M.D., would be sufficient to convince a judge to schedule an evidentiary hearing in 30 or 45 days. We were certainly not anticipating holding a hearing that very day, nor would we expect the government would be ready to hold such a hearing without some time to prepare their case.

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On Saturday, September 15, 2007, NORML Founder Keith Stroup and High Times associate publisher Rick Cusick were arrested for smoking a joint at the 18th annual Boston Freedom Rally on the Boston Common. This is an event held each year to protest the continued arrest of responsible cannabis consumers in that state, and depending on the weather, it attracts from 15,000 to 50,000 supporters to the Common.

Keith and Rick have candidly acknowledged that they were sharing a joint, but they have pled not guilty and announced their intentions to challenge the constitutionality of the Massachusetts marijuana laws, and to argue for a jury instruction informing the jurors of their common law power to refuse to convict an individual, if they do not believe the offense should be a criminal matter. This long-held power of jurors is generally called jury nullification.

More after the jump…

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