The Guru of Ganja has won again. US District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed charges of tax evasion and money laundering and found the federal government to have pursued Rosenthal out of vindictiveness.

“The reasonable observer will interpret the government’s conduct as demonstrating that if defendants successfully appeal, the government will ensure that they face more severe charges and more prison time the next time around. The government’s deeds — and words — create the perception that it added the new charges to make Rosenthal look like a common criminal and thus dissipate the criticism heaped on the government after the first trial,” Breyer said at the trial.

Rosenthal’s trouble started in 2002 when he was convicted without being allowed to present a proper defense against cultivation charges. It looks like they are still not over.

Rosenthal was charged in connection with an Oakland medical marijuana operation that was in full compliance and contact with Alameda County and Oakland, California. At the trial, however, the judge would not allow testimony about the purpose of the marijuana (medical use) or any testimony regarding California’s Prop 215 (which wrote medical marijuana into the state constitution).

When the jurors learned the truth, seven of the twelve stated that they would have decided differently had they known about medical marijuana. Instead of throwing the case out, the judge sentenced Rosenthal to one day in jail. Rosenthal appealed.

After the Ninth Circuit held that Rosenthal deserved a new trial, the feds responded by filing additional felony counts against Rosenthal.

“The government responded to the reversal by re-indicting Rosenthal on essentially the same charges and adding four counts of tax evasion and one count of money laundering,” Beyer wrote in his ruling. “These circumstances — upping the ante as a result of Rosenthal’s successful appeal — raise a presumption of vindictiveness.”

So the judge threw out the new charges, but Rosenthal can still be retried on the cultivation charges.

Rosenthal had this to say:
“The court’s ruling is reassuring, but my continued prosecution on the marijuana charges is still malicious. To make me and my family go through a second prosecution to obtain, at most, a one-day time served jail sentence seems personally motivated.”

Of course, Rosenthal is being a gentleman. He embarrassed the government when it tried to take down its ganja trophy and it reacted like a child throwing a tantrum.

It’s probably a sign of things to come.

The federal government has never been able to get a grip on marijuana. As more Americans learn the truth about the plant, that lack of control will become even more apparent. Reactionary flare-ups like the California medical community has seen since 1996 could become more widespread as the government struggles to fight a battle it cannot win.

No matter how many Chongs and Rosenthals they target, people are not going to give up their Liberty simply so that Pfizer can have a better fiscal quarter and Pat Robertson can relax. Eventually, the feds must be made to understand this.

Big Brother wanted to teach us all a lesson about the perils of marijuana (and dissent) using Rosenthal as their prop. Yet in the end, it was Rosenthal who did the teaching.

What else would you expect from the Guru?