Busted !
Top court overturns pot activist's conviction
An Alberta medical marijuana activist was deprived of his constitutional right to a jury trial when his trial judge instructed two sympathetic jurors to nonetheless find him guilty, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled today.The Court's ringing declaration in favour of the right to a proper jury trial ruling is a victory for those who believe that jurors ought to be able to ignore a law if they feel strongly that it would be wrong to convict.
The defendant - Grant Wayne Krieger - was convicted of unlawfully producing cannabis. His appeal was rejected 2-1 by the Alberta Court of Appeal. Today, the Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that he should have a new trial.
"Unfortunately, the trial judge usurped the jury's function," Mr. Justice Morris Fish wrote for the Court. "He directed the jury to convict and said they were 'bound to abide by that direction.' In substance, the verdict was that of the judge. It was theirs only in form.
Read the rest of this Globe and Mail story here.
