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Blackburn succeeds in Amarillo with medical necessity defense for marijuana defendant

By Gritsforbreakfast

Reason's Hit and Run blog brings the news that our buddy Jeff Blackburn - the civil rights attorney who runs the Texas Tech law school Innocence Project and was the main lawyer representing defendants in the Tulia drug sting case - has just won a major victory in an Amarillo courtroom, convincing juries that his client used marijuana out of medical necessity. The argument earned him an acquittal! Congrats, Jeff! According to a press release from the Marijuana Policy Project I received via email:Though such a defense - which requires the defendant to establish that an otherwise illegal act was necessary to avoid imminent harm more serious than the harm prevented by the law he or she broke - has rarely been successful in Texas, the jury took just 11 minutes to acquit Tim Stevens, 53...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on March 27, 2008 (boomark / email).