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MONTANA JURY POOL IN MARIJUANA CASE STAGES 'MUTINY'
Return To OnlinePot's
Legal Section Main Page
Missoula District Court: Pot
Case ‘Mutiny’ Leaves Ripples For Other Drug Cases #2 
LOL
A funny thing happened on the way to a trial in Missoula County District Court
last week.
Jurors -- well, potential jurors -- staged a revolt.
They took the law into their own hands, as it were, and made it clear they
weren't about to convict anybody for having a couple of buds of marijuana.
Never mind that the defendant in question also faced a felony charge of criminal
distribution of dangerous drugs.
The tiny amount of marijuana police found while searching Touray Cornell's home
on April 23 became a huge issue for some members of the jury panel.
No, they said, one after the other. No way would they convict somebody for
having a 16th of an ounce.
In fact, one juror wondered why the county was wasting time and money
prosecuting the case at all, said a flummoxed Deputy Missoula County Attorney
Andrew Paul.
District Judge Dusty Deschamps took a quick poll as to who might agree. Of
the 27 potential jurors before him, maybe five raised their hands. A
couple of others had already been excused because of their philosophical
objections.
"I thought, 'Geez, I don't know if we can seat a jury,' " said
Deschamps, who called a recess.
And he didn't.
During the recess, Paul and defense attorney Martin Elison worked out a plea
agreement. That was on Thursday.
On Friday, Cornell entered an Alford plea, in which he didn't admit guilt.
He briefly held his infant daughter in his manacled hands, and walked smiling
out of the courtroom.
"Public opinion, as revealed by the reaction of a substantial portion of
the members of the jury called to try the charges on Dec. 16, 2010, is not
supportive of the state's marijuana law and appeared to prevent any conviction
from being obtained simply because an unbiased jury did not appear available
under any circumstances," according to the plea memorandum filed by his
attorney.
"A mutiny," said Paul.
"Bizarre," the defense attorney called it.
In his nearly 30 years as a prosecutor and judge, Deschamps said he's never seen
anything like it.
"I think that's outstanding," John Masterson, who heads Montana NORML
( National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ), said when told of
the incident. "The American populace over the last 10 years or so has
begun to believe in a majority that assigning criminal penalties for the
personal possession of marijuana is an unjust and a stupid use of government
resources."
Masterson is hardly an unbiased source.
On the other hand, prosecutor, defense attorney and judge all took note that
some of the potential jurors expressed that same opinion.
"I think it's going to become increasingly difficult to seat a jury in
marijuana cases, at least the ones involving a small amount," Deschamps
said.
The attorneys and the judge all noted Missoula County's approval in 2006 of
Initiative 2, which required law enforcement to treat marijuana crimes as their
lowest priority -- and also of the 2004 approval of a statewide medical
marijuana ballot initiative.
And all three noticed the age of the members of the jury pool who objected.
A couple looked to be in their 20s. A couple in their 40s. But one
of the most vocal was in her 60s.
"It's kind of a reflection of society as a whole on the issue," said
Deschamps.
Which begs a question, he said.
Given the fact that marijuana use became widespread in the 1960s, most of those
early users are now in late middle age and fast approaching elderly.
Is it fair, Deschamps wondered, in such cases to insist upon impaneling a jury
of "hardliners" who object to all drug use, including marijuana?
"I think that poses a real challenge in proceeding," he said.
"Are we really seating a jury of their peers if we just leave people on who
are militant on the subject?"
Although the potential jurors in the Cornell case quickly focused on the small
amount of marijuana involved, the original allegations were more serious -- that
Cornell was dealing; hence, a felony charge of criminal distribution of
dangerous drugs.
Because the case never went to trial, members of the jury pool didn't know that
Cornell's neighbors had complained to police that he was dealing from his South
10th Street West four-plex, according to an affidavit in the case. After
one neighbor reported witnessing an alleged transaction between Cornell and two
people in a vehicle, marijuana was found in the vehicle in question.
The driver and passenger said they'd bought it from Cornell, the affidavit said.
A subsequent search of his home turned up some burnt marijuana cigarettes, a
pipe and some residue, as well as a shoulder holster for a handgun and 9mm
ammunition. As a convicted felon, Cornell was prohibited from having
firearms, the affidavit noted.
Cornell admitted distributing small amounts of marijuana and "referred to
himself as a person who connected other dealers with customers," it said.
"He claimed his payment for arranging deals was usually a small amount of
marijuana for himself."
Potential jurors also couldn't know about Cornell's criminal history, which
included eight felonies, most of them in and around Chicago several years ago.
According to papers filed in connection with the plea agreement, Cornell said he
moved to Missoula to "escape the criminal lifestyle he was leading,"
but he's had a number of brushes with the law here.
Those include misdemeanor convictions for driving while under the influence and
driving with a suspended license, and a felony conviction in August of
conspiracy to commit theft, involving an alleged plot last year to stage a theft
at a business where a friend worked, the papers said. He was out on bail
in that case when the drug charges were filed.
In sentencing him Friday, Deschamps referred to him as "an eight-time
loser" and said, "I'm not convinced in any way that you don't present
an ongoing threat to the community."
Deschamps also pronounced himself "appalled" at Cornell's personal
life, saying: "You've got no education, you've got no skills. Your
life's work seems to be going out and impregnating women and not supporting your
children."
The mother of one of those children, a 3-month-old named Joy who slept through
Friday's sentencing, was in the courtroom for Friday's sentencing. Cornell
sought and received permission to hug his daughter before heading back to jail.
Deschamps sentenced Cornell to 20 years, with 19 suspended, under Department of
Corrections supervision, to run concurrently with his sentence in the theft
case. He'll get credit for the 200 days he's already served. The
judge also ordered Cornell to get a GED degree upon his release.
"Instead of being a lazy bum, you need to get an education so you can get a
decent law-abiding job and start supporting your family," he said.
Normally, Paul said after the sentencing, a case involving such a small amount
of marijuana wouldn't have gone this far through the court system except for the
felony charge involved.
But the small detail in this case may end up being a big game-changer in future
cases.
The reaction of potential jurors in this case, Paul said, "is going to be
something we're going to have to consider."
Pubdate: Sun, 19 Dec 2010
Source: Missoulian (MT)
Copyright: 2010 Missoulian
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