The Associated Press reports tonight that the FBI had information hinting at the OKC bombing before it happened.

It's a long article, but primarily refers to concerns by the FBI in early 1995 that separatists at the Elohim City compound in Muldrow, Okla., might be planning an attack. A month before the bombing, the FBI interviewed a reformed white supremacist, Kerry Noble, about a plan in 1983 to attack federal buildings in Oklahoma.

Noble told The Associated Press that his FBI questioners appeared particularly concerned about what Elohim City members might do on April 19 because one of their heroes, Wayne Snell, was being executed that day and another, James Ellison, was returning to Oklahoma after ending in Florida.
FBI officials confirmed Noble's account, including concerns the group at Elohim City might strike on April 19. Snell, Ellison and Noble had plotted to attack the Murrah building in 1983 with plastic explosives and rocket launchers, according to Noble and FBI officials. The plan never reached fruition before the group was arrested after a siege with law enforcement in 1985.

The ATF also had information about Carol Howe, an informant inside Elohim City who disclosed before the bombing that the group was preparing an attack on the U.S. Government through bombings and assassinations and the like. The Judge wouldn't let the defense call Ms. Howe at the McVeigh trial. The Nichols team had better luck. Ms. Howe is hardly news.

We think the main value to the article is not in concluding that the white supremacists and separatists were involved in the 1995 OKC bombing, but that there is a dismal failure of communications between and within law enforcement agencies in this country when it comes to locating and sharing information about possible attacks. A large part of it is due to the FBI's antiquated computer systems. The investigating agents don't know what information they have or how to find it. We think other causes include the failure or refusal of the ATF and FBI to work together and the lack of law enforcment's ability to effectively deal with intelligence information relating to future crimes.

On a related note, David Neiwert over at Orcinus discusses the OKC conspiracy theory today, in a different context.

We've been following the middle east/ separatist/white supremacist/militia conspiracy theories involving Oklahoma since 1996 and will continue to do so. We have not made up our minds definitively yet, although we lean against believing them.

April 19, by the way, had several significances as a date, the most important in the context of Oklahoma, was that it was the anniversary of the Waco killings. It also was a significant date in the Revolutionary War, but we're forgetting the details of this one. We'll update if we remember, or if one of you know, please post it in the comments.

From The Smoking Gun

Hey, dude, you're getting a cell!

Benjamin Curtis, the 22-year old actor who portrays "Steven," the Dell Guy, in those bothersome computer commercials, was arrested late last night (2/9) on a marijuana possession charge, The Smoking Gun has learned.

According to cops, Curtis was holding a "small bag of marijuana" when he was popped on Manhattan's Lower East Side (at Ludlow and Rivington for you Gothamites). Curtis is currently being held in Central Booking and is scheduled to be arraigned later today in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Curtis, who lives in lower Manhattan, was charged with criminal possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. Bonnie Shumofsky, the actor's agent, said she was unaware of her client's bust when contacted this morning by TSG. (1 page)

"After his arrest on pot charges in October, medical marijuana activist Steve McWilliams vowed to go to trial in federal court. He wanted the chance to argue he had a right to grow marijuana under California's Proposition 215, which allows ill people to grow pot. "

"McWilliams said yesterday he has given up that fight and will accept a plea agreement offered by prosecutors."

McWillians is going to plead to felony cultivation of 25 plants. He will admit that he grew the 25 plants growing in his front yard that the DEA uprooted.

"In my heart I wish we could go to court and say: 'Seat a jury. Let's have a fair trial,' " McWilliams said. "More than anything we wanted to tell a jury of our peers about our case. That simply can't happen now." If McWilliams, 48, had gone to trial and had been convicted of two felony charges, he would have faced five to 40 years in prison. "

Prosecutors will recommend no more than six months in prison. His lawyer says he may not serve any prison time. By our calculations under the Sentencing Guidelines, he could get no jail and 3 months of home detention. The good news is that the Government is allowing McWilliams to enter what is referred to as a "conditional guilty plea" whereby McWilliams retains the right to appeal the medical marijuana issue to the 9th Circuit.

Given the rulings in the Rosenthal case, this sounds like a win-win for McWilliams--except for the felony on his record --and having to stay on the straight and narrow while on probation.

Two jurors in the Ed Rosenthal trial were on Connie Chung tonight. They were mad. Connie asked one, "Who's the culprit?" The very articulate female juror replied, "The system, the federal government, the DEA." She added that Ed should get a new trial and that the jury should be presented with all of the evidence as well as their options. She said they thought they had no option but to consider only the Judge's instructions and evidence presented. We think she was talking about jury nullification--the principle that the jury has the right to vote not guilty if they disagree with the law.

The male juror, who served as foreman, said he was "angry beyond belief" when he found out that Ed had been licensed by the City of Oakland to grow the marijuana and that it was for medical use. He said he was "embarassed, humiliated" that his name appears at the bottom of the verdict form.

Another criticism of the Rosenthal case is at GlennReynolds.com:

Meanwhile, the Ashcroft Justice Department — which I thought was supposed to be protecting federalism, and chasing terrorists — needs to explain why it’s wasting time and tax dollars chasing people who are no threat to anyone, and who are doing things that are legal under their own state’s laws. I’m waiting. . . .

The San Francisco Chronicle on what you can do if you are upset about the verdict:

Contact your elected representatives in Sacramento and Washington and encourage them to reconcile this conflict in state and federal drug laws -- and in the meantime, to find a structured way for the desperately ill to obtain medical marijuana with a doctor's prescription.

Update: The transcript of the CNN interview is available here.

Bump and update:
Received this today from our friends at the Marijuana Policy Project:

Please visit us for news coverage. And, more importantly, please use this Web page to fax a pre-written letter to your three members of Congress. The whole process of typing in your address and selecting a pre-written letter takes less than two minutes. We here at the Marijuana Policy Project are trying to build on the momentum from California and New York to persuade dozens of members of Congress to introduce legislation to remove the "gag" that the government is placing on medical marijuana defendants in federal court. But our lobbying efforts will not be successful if members of Congress do not hear from their constituents. Would you please visit our action page today?

If there's anyone reading who isn't already familiar with Ed Rosenthal and his conviction for pot cultivation last week, start here, then go here, or do a google search. Also, Green-Aid continues to have the most comprehensive coverage, including daily trial reports, beginning here and working backwards.

Update: Here is NORML's Action Page from which you can send a letter about medical marijuana to your elected officials as well.

Five jurors and an alternate in the Ed Rosenthal marijuana trial held a press conference today. They demanded the Judge grant Ed a new trial. And as expected, they apologized to Ed -- one at a time.

The jurors said they had been unaware that the defendant, Ed Rosenthal, was growing marijuana for medicinal purposes, allowed since 1996 under California state law, when they convicted him on three federal counts of cultivation and conspiracy. He is to be sentenced in June and faces a minimum of five years in prison. "I'm sorry doesn't begin to cover it," said one of the jurors, Marney Craig, a property manager in Novato. "It's the most horrible mistake I've ever made in my entire life. And I don't think that I personally will ever recover from this."

The group said that two other juror members agreed with them. They were joined by the San Francisco district attorney and two members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

"In good faith, we as jury members allowed ourselves to be blindfolded to weigh the evidence before us," the statement said. "But in this trial, the prosecution was allowed to put all of the evidence and testimony on one of the scales, while the defense was not allowed to put its evidence and testimony on the other scale. Therefore we were not allowed as a jury to properly weigh the case."

In a nutshell, here was the problem:

The judge in the case, Judge Charles R. Breyer of Federal District Court, had barred Mr. Rosenthal's defense from mentioning the state law because he was indicted under federal law, which does not allow the growing of marijuana for any purpose.

When he was arrested last February, Mr. Rosenthal was cultivating starter plants in a warehouse that were to be distributed to seriously ill patients by medical marijuana clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Rosenthal, who lives in Oakland, was acting in his official capacity as "an officer of the city" under Oakland's medical marijuana ordinance, Oakland officials said....

"In good faith, we as jury members allowed ourselves to be blindfolded to weigh the evidence before us," the statement said. "But in this trial, the prosecution was allowed to put all of the evidence and testimony on one of the scales, while the defense was not allowed to put its evidence and testimony on the other scale. Therefore we were not allowed as a jury to properly weigh the case."

In other words, Mr. Rosenthal's actions were legal under California law but not under federal law. The Judge ruled that because the trial was in federal court, state law was inadmissible and could not be used as a defense. Thus, the jurors never heard Ed's actions were authorized by the city of Oakland.

Lots of other bloggers are talking about the case, and thankfully, the mainstream media is picking up on it. In the end, we predict it will become one more black mark against Attorney General Ashcroft, at whose insistence the prosecution was launched. We hope he is ridiculed for it as he has become a caricature for non-tolerance and interference with all of our civil liberties.

Update: GlennReynolds.com , aka Instapundit, weighs in for Rosenthal. " Meanwhile, the Ashcroft Justice Department — which I thought was supposed to be protecting federalism, and chasing terrorists — needs to explain why it’s wasting time and tax dollars chasing people who are no threat to anyone, and who are doing things that are legal under their own state’s laws. I’m waiting. . . ."

Update: The grand jury transcripts are out in the case--Don't miss Dan Forbes article , "A Peek Behind the Rosenthal Grand Jury Veil: Manipulation Rampant."

The prosecutors lost their bid to keep pot guru Ed Rosenthal in jail pending sentencing.

This kind of overkill by prosecutors is how they lose the public trust. There was no justification for their request--Rosenthal is not a flight risk or a danger to the community. He's stuck around throughout these proceedings, including showing up for court today, after the verdict, and he's on a $200k bond. Ashcroft should know better by now.

Update: Daily Kos weighs in, read to the end. So does Instapundit, and Calpundit. Matt Yglesias weighs in here on legalization.

This is just the best! From the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Jurors who convicted marijuana guru Ed Rosenthal of cultivation and other drug charges said Monday they would have acquitted him had they been told he was growing medical marijuana for the city of Oakland. "

"I feel like I made the biggest mistake in my life," said juror Marney Craig, a 58-year-old Novato property manager. "We convicted a man who is not a criminal. We unfortunately had no idea of who he was or what he did."

Another juror: "Some of us jurors are upset about the way the trial was conducted in that we feel Mr. Rosenthal didn't have a chance and therefore neither did state's rights or patient's rights. I would have liked to have been given the opportunity to decide with all the evidence."

The other jurors agreed--and they are all going to write Ed an apology.

So much for Ashcroft thinking he got a victory and that the good citizens of California back his anti-medical pot campaign.

The Government announced after the verdict it would seek to have Ed detained pending sentencing, and a hearing was scheduled for that tomorrow. Let's hope the prosecutors (no, make that Aschcroft, since the prosecutors just do what Ashcroft tells them to these days) sees the light and drops that overkill request.

Update: The New York Times in an editorial, Misguided Marijuana War, addresses the inequity of the Rosenthal conviction and says, "The courts should not allow Mr. Rosenthal's conviction to stand. It would be a serious injustice if he were to serve years in prison, as he well may. Meanwhile, the administration should stop tyrannizing doctors and sick people and focus on more important aspects of the war on drugs."

A court in Iran has sentenced two pollsters to prison for conducting an opinion poll on U.S.-Iranian relations.

Abbas Abdi, a prominent reformist politician, was sentenced to seven years and his colleague, Hussein-Ali Qazian, received an eight-year prison term, the reports said.... The two men, along with several others from a similar institute, were arrested and tried after the release of the survey in September that indicated three-quarters of Iranians favored resuming ties with the United States.

"The New Jersey attorney general's office has opened an investigation into allegations that a secret society of rogue state troopers has harassed minorities and women among their ranks."

The cops' secret group is called "The Lords of Discipline." This is scary stuff.

Three gay Catholics were refused communion at Mass. The next day they knelt in lobby of the hotel where Bishops were holding a conference, again seeking communion and an explanation for the refusal the day before. They were arrested for unlawful entry, and convicted at a non-jury trial. The Judge apologized for what happened to them and refused to impose sentence, other than a mandatory Crime Victim Fund cost assessment. The Judge said to the three:

"Tremendous violence was done to you...when the Body of Christ was denied to you," Edwards said, referring to the contention of the three that refusal of Holy Communion had prompted their actions. "As a member of your church, I ask you to forgive the church."

The Church claims it was a case of mistaken identity.

According to Green Aid's trial updates today, Ed Rosenthal faces a mandatory minimum five year sentence (not ten as we and others previously reported)--the jury found him not guilty of cultivation of over 1,000 plants, but guilty of the lesser included offense of cultivating more than 100 but less than 1,000 plants.

Also, the previous report that Ed is to be sentenced Tuesday is incorrect. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4.

The Court denied the prosecution's request to have Rosenthal held in custody until sentencing. The Court also said it would conduct it's own independent inquiry into the possibility of a downward departure. However, with a mandatory minimum sentence and no government motion to reduce the sentence for substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of others, that may be tough to do. Let's hope where there's a will, there's a way.

We reprinted Ed Rosenthal's statement on his convction earlier, but you can also access it directly through Green-Aid here.