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 ToiletDuk
I eat babies!
Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 35,872
Loc: EarthFarm 1
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 Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client
#7646784 - 11/17/07 06:16 AM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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Judge Doesn't Buy That Marijuana Is A 'God-Given Right'
Defense attorney Ronald F. Stevens' presentation in New London Superior Court Thursday could have been called “Marijuana 101.”
His client, 42-year-old Vernon Smith of Norwich, had pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of marijuana with intent to sell after police found him with more than 20 pounds of the drug earlier this year.
As a Rastafarian who believes that selling, trading and possessing marijuana is “a God-given right,” Smith had asked his lawyer to argue his point of view in an attempt to reduce the state's recommended sentence of seven years in prison, suspended after 30 months served and three years probation.
Smith, a father of seven from St. Croix, Virgin Islands, is a “Mr. Mom” who takes care of the kids while his wife works and supplements his income by selling marijuana, Stevens said. He does not sell to children, the attorney said.
This was Smith's third conviction, and it was his second time in front of Judge Susan B. Handy. Stevens acknowledged the judge had to follow the law, but said he had to advocate for his client.
“Mr. Smith firmly believes in his heart of hearts and in his religious and cultural convictions that marijuana is part of his human rights,” Stevens said. “He wants to fight the good fight for the legalization of marijuana.”
Stevens said he listened to audio tapes, watched television specials and read up on the history of marijuana and the Rastafarian religion. Marijuana was legal until the 1930s, he said. He referenced Supreme Court decisions involving Rastafarians and their use of marijuana. He recited a poem on his client's behalf and quoted from a Biblical passage about “the herb of life.” He said Rastafarians consider marijuana or “ganja” to be “wisdom weed.”
After referencing the Prohibition period, when alcohol was illegal but marijuana was not, Stevens said that in his practice, “I see more problems with alcohol than I've seen with marijuana, frankly.”
Stevens said his client's beliefs had made him the victim of a violent crime. Two men, whose cases are pending in the same New London court, had entered Smith's home in May while his parents were visiting from St. Croix and held guns to their heads. While police were investigating, Smith admitted he had marijuana in the home. Police recovered four ounces, and were holding a warrant for his arrest when he was pulled over and found with 20 pounds of the drug.
Smith, who wore a white robe and a tri-colored headwrap to his court appearances, said he has always tried to set a good example for his people and has followed the Ten Commandments. He does not consider himself a criminal.
“I know that the law is such in this country, but I feel one day the law will change, especially with people who indulge in marijuana and are not violent,” he said. He knows many people who use marijuana to relax and meditate, he said.
(From High Times)
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 TTT
True
Registered: 08/07/06
Posts: 269
Loc: None
Last seen: 2 days, 15 hours
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: ToiletDuk]
#7646975 - 11/17/07 08:21 AM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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I hope they let him off a bit easier.
Go lawyer
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Drewwyann
Picker-Upper ofthe Pieces
Registered: 10/30/06
Posts: 3,229
Loc: Atlantis
Last seen: 13 hours, 44 minutes
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: ToiletDuk]
#7647249 - 11/17/07 10:51 AM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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 good to hear that people are trying.
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If i didnt lose my mind, it would drive me crazy.
You think of me odd, for the strange things I do,
But don't think twice, I think the same things of you.
  
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wowitch17
dont murder me
Registered: 01/10/06
Posts: 1,821
Loc: Austin area, Texas
Last seen: 25 days, 11 hours
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: Drewwyann]
#7647391 - 11/17/07 11:53 AM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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there goes someones cool ass hookup
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get big mario style
notapillow said: in space nebulas of pure n2o exist
they are pink
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elcharrosays
Registered: 08/25/07
Posts: 675
Loc: south east
Last seen: 1 day, 14 hours
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: wowitch17]
#7647507 - 11/17/07 12:40 PM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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unless theres a norwich in america im unaware of isnt that in the uk? and didnt they lower the classification of pot or did they already knock it back up again?
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Visionary Tools
Kiffah
Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 2,933
Last seen: 17 days, 11 hours
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: elcharrosays]
#7647612 - 11/17/07 01:34 PM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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There's Norwich's in Canada and Australia as well. It's not in the UK, because here we don't name it after some Spanish girl.
Cannabis does me down to the ground.
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In times of universal deceit, the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
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TheJakeyl88
RememberInfinity.
Registered: 01/16/04
Posts: 222
Last seen: 2 months, 28 days
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: Visionary Tools]
#7648118 - 11/17/07 04:37 PM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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as long as there are stupid drunken idiots running around to all the bars and clubs all night, every night, and becoming more intoxicated than a marijuana user.... I think I'll stick to relaxing at home with my mj away from all the MTV real world bullcrap.
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tealeaf
Sky was yellowSun was blue
Registered: 09/21/06
Posts: 231
Last seen: 12 hours, 25 minutes
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: TheJakeyl88]
#7648152 - 11/17/07 04:45 PM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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"Smith, a father of seven from St. Croix, Virgin Islands, is a “Mr. Mom” who takes care of the kids while his wife works and supplements his income by selling marijuana, Stevens said. He does not sell to children"
this is a place i would definitely love to be!
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sleepy
Registered: 01/17/05
Posts: 2,103
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: tealeaf]
#7648791 - 11/17/07 07:57 PM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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Norwich and New London are located in Connecticut
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
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Every obstacle can be busted.
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ToiletDuk
I eat babies!
Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 35,872
Loc: EarthFarm 1
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: sleepy]
#7648928 - 11/17/07 08:30 PM (9 months, 7 days ago) |
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Sounds about right, I'd say. Sorry, but they didn't specify the location in the article, though.
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chodamunky
Cheers!
Registered: 02/28/02
Posts: 2,025
Loc: sailing the seas of chees...
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Re: Attorney Argues For Rastafarian Client [Re: ToiletDuk]
#7652983 - 11/18/07 10:49 PM (9 months, 6 days ago) |
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“I know that the law is such in this country, but I feel one day the law will change, especially with people who indulge in marijuana and are not violent,”
Jah Rastafari!
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