Harry Cheadle over at Vice.com wrote up a follow-up article on Rich Paul and his struggles with prohibition laws:
Last month I wrote about Rich Paul, a pro-marijuana activist in Keene, New Hampshire, who was facing 81 years in prison for selling marijuana. Rich had refused plea-bargain deals (including one that would have let him walk away with no jail time) because he wanted to stand up for his principles—weed is basically harmless and you should be allowed to smoke it and sell it to your friends. “Somebody had to stand up and say that this is wrong, and I thought I might well be that guy,” Rich emailed me. “I took the risk and now we’ll find out whether I bet my life well.”
Two days after he wrote that, the jury found Rich guilty, sending him to prison for a long, long time for a nonviolent crime.*
That’s not so strange, because Rich essentially admitted that he sold a whole bunch of weed to an FBI informant. His defense didn’t rely on convincing anyone he wasn’t breaking the law—he wanted to convince the jury that the law itself was wrong. In other words, he was leaning on the principle of jury nullification, which is the idea that juries can vote to acquit people who have clearly broken the law if they think that the law shouldn’t exist in the first place.
“I wasn’t shocked,” Rich admitted to me in a video recorded from jail. “Jury nullification is a long shot.” Even so, he’s planning on appealing to the New Hampshire Supreme Court on the grounds that the judge misled the jury on what nullification is.
Please come support Rich Paul as he faces up to 81 years in prison for selling cannabis. You can join him on June 7th at 1:30pm at Cheshire “Superior” Court in Keene. Here’s a facebook event.
This letter arrived from Rich Paul today, and as much as it breaks my heart to read it and type it for him, it breaks him free to have a voice from the cage. Rich has been incarcerated since April 18th, 2013 waiting for sentencing on Friday June 7th, 2013.
“After my late girlfriend, Julie, died of cancer in 2002, I slipped into a deep depression. It worsened when the startup company I had spent 5 years building failed. By 2008, it had ended my career. I was no longer able to focus on my work; for a computer programmer like me, being unable to focus meant being unable to work. I also lost my ability to socialize. I had not dated since Julie’s death, and having moved, failed to make new friends. I wanted to die, but could not commit suicide, knowing how it would hurt my family. (more…)
If you loved last week’s debut of AKPF #1, you’re going to be anxious for next week after you see the latest episode of Cheshire county’s hottest new variety series. Now available through AquaKeene, Free Concord is pleased to present episode 02, Monolith.
1. 00:10 Opening AKPF/ATHF Crossover Ska Theme
2. 01:40 Graham introduces the first submission by Trotting Bear Studios Martial Arts and Fitness Center
3. 02:22 Nintendo Mario Super Robin Hooding Video Game
4. 06:07 Fancy Pants People’s science universe hour with special guest Michio Kaku
5. 14:09 The latest from the Rich Paul trial courtesy http://freeconcord.org
6. 28:22 Closing credits with Sarge Stern and MJ
Special guest host Graham Colson reps the AKPF #1. Ep. 03 premieres May 27 2013.
There was a crackdown at the Smoke Down at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia yesterday, May 18th, 2013, as police presence was at an all time high, and at an all time low for their violent thuggish behavior, when they forcefully arrested at least four peaceful liberty lovers. Much footage and controversy is coming forward about these arrests of Adam Kokesh, N.A. Poe, NJ Weedman, and Don Dezarn. The latest news indicates that Don Dezarn and the NJ Weedman were released immediately on the spot, with citations. Adam Kokesh was reported by one source to have been released, but other sources say he and N.A. Poe are now detained in the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center, to face arraignment and bail hearings on Monday May 20th. Here is some of the footage of the whole Smoke Down event, Don Dezarn gets released at 28:41 point in the video,
Harry Cheadle over at Vice.com wrote up a follow-up article on Rich Paul and his struggles with prohibition laws: 
Please come support Rich Paul as he faces up to 81 years in prison for selling cannabis. You can join him on June 7th at 1:30pm at Cheshire “Superior” Court in Keene. 
