(2006): A jury in San Francisco federal court found Oakland resident Ed Rosenthal guilty of cultivating cannabis, conspiracy to cultivate, and maintaining a place where drugs are manufactured. Jurors were never allowed to hear evidence regarding Prop. 215 or Rosenthal's deputization by the city of Oakland to grow medical cannabis. Jurors publicly recanted their "guilty" verdict after finding out all the facts that were left out of the trial. Rosenthal appealed to the Ninth Circuit, which reversed his conviction in April 2006 due to jury misconduct. Click to view the ruling.

(2007): In response to the reversal of Rosenthal's convictions, as well as its dissatisfaction with his one-day, time-served sentence, the federal government re-indicted Rosenthal, this time adding new (and frivolous) charges for money laundering and tax evasion.Because the prosecutor admitted that these new charges were added in response to Rosenthal's statements against the government, the additional charges were dismissed by the court as a form of vindictive prosecution.Rosenthal was, again, convicted of cultivating marijuana and, again, was given a sentence of one-day, time-served.Click here to view the ruling.