By: Eugene Davidovich
On Monday, September 27 at 1:30pm in Department 15, Lance Rogers, the defense attorney will begin his closing arguments in Jovan Jackson’s second medical marijuana trial. The case is expected to be wrapped up today, and the jury will be in deliberations this afternoon.
After being tried and acquitted by a jury of twelve peers on similar charges a few months ago, he is now facing a second trial stemming from a second raid on the Answerdam collective; same prosecutor, same investigators, same evidence, different Judge, and now a different jury instructions, one that is severely limiting his ability to have a fair trial.
The Judge in Jackson’s second case has removed the portion of the law that talk about collectives and cooperatives, and has presented a redacted instruction to the Jury.
This morning the proceedings began with a final witness from the prosecution, a DEA agent that help participate in the raid on Jackson’s home. Agent Turpy testified that he did in fact help search the house, that all marijuana is illegal in his opinion, and he tried as hard as the court would allow in helping the prosecution and being very cooperative on the stand.
When the defense began questioning him, he immediately changed his demeanor, began not recalling anything, and displayed a clear frustration with and anger at the defense.
Following the DEA Agent, Dr. Donald Clark took the stand. Dr. Clark recommended cannabis to not only Mr. Jackson, but also to the undercover officer in this case who purchased the marijuana from Answerdam. Dr. Clark testified about the examination he conducted, about his history and practice in medicine. He discussed his experience as an anesthesiologist for over twenty years, and then why he decided to refocus his practice n medical marijuana.
The DA tried desperately to discredit Dr. Clark and make him look bad on the stand by asking him argumentative questions and insinuating that he wasn’t a good doctor. All of the prosecutor’s attempts were met with professional and accurate statements from Dr. Clark who presented himself as a legitimate doctor. The DA however came across as mean-spirited, vindictive, and bias.
Following Dr. Clark’s testimony, the Jurors were read the jury instructions from which glaringly was missing the Collective / Cooperative cultivation portion. After the jury instructions were read, the court broke for lunch and the proceedings are expected to resume at 1:30pm when both side will present the closing arguments.
Many people following this trial believe that future raids and prosecutions of medical marijuana dispensaries and patients in San Diego could very well rest on the decisions jurors make in this case.
Concerned citizens, patients, and advocates from across the state are calling on San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to stop this egregious violation of civil rights, and the bias driven persecution.
