Jovan Jackson
(Photo Credit: UT SanDiego)
Is there such a thing as triple jeopardy?
Tragically, there is in San Diego under District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’ reign. This month, the third trial of Jovan Jackson will begin in San Diego Superior Court.
Jovan Jackson, a legitimate medical cannabis patient and Navy veteran was a directing member of Answerdam, a medical marijuana collective located in Kearney Mesa in 2009. After the first raid on the dispensary by DA Dumanis’ cannabis eradication team, Jackson was charged and jailed. Following a yearlong court process, twelve jurors found him not guilty of all the cannabis related charges and scolded the prosecution for wasting the jury’s time with this frivolous case. Unfortunately, a unanimous jury verdict was not enough for the San Diego District Attorney.
While Mr. Jackson was going through the first trial, Dumanis conducted another raid on Answerdam. Promptly after the ‘not guilty’ verdict in his first trial, Dumanis re-filled all the charges, this time under a different date allowing her to skirt the ‘double jeopardy’ rule. At the second trial, with a Judge handpicked by Dumanis’ office, Jackson was denied a medical marijuana defense and found guilty. The case was immediately appealed and the fourth district court of appeals reversed the guilty verdict and issued an unprecedented decision clarifying that dispensaries in fact were legal and that sale of cannabis was in fact legal under state law. The ruling not only dismissed Dumanis’ arguments, but clarified the law throughout the state on this issue and mandated that in cases like Jackson’s the medical marijuana defense should not be denied.
At this point, prosecutorial discretion should kick in and the District Attorney shouldn’t drag this man through a third trial. Not at Dumanis’ office.
Not only did Dumanis re-file the charges and move forward with a third trial, the lead prosecutor in the case Chris Lindberg, is still arguing against a medical defense and claiming that sales are not legal. In addition, this same prosecutor who led the failed effort to overturn Proposition 215 through the appellate courts was recently honored by Dumanis and the County Board of Supervisors as an “Outstanding DA”.
Jackson and the team of pro-bono attorneys representing him in the third trial are calling on all former members of Answerdam that are willing to testify in the case to please contact them as soon as possible at: Lance Rogers |lance@lrogerslaw.com | Ph: (619) 333-6882
The trial is expected to begin on October 21st. Please stand with Jovan as he fights against this vindictive, bias driven and at times racially motivated persecution.
