Every so often you get to kill two birds with one stone, but it's easier with a shotgun: that's what happened when several New Mexico FIJA activists, joined by Larry Dodge, who came over from Texas, teamed up to leaflet the federal courthouse in Albuquerque at the start of the "vitamin" trial of Rodger Sless.
The "shotgun" took the form of handing out "True or False?" brochures, JPIK's and FIJA 7-Question Quiz Cards at every door into the Federal Courthouse, by activists Kay Stone, Steve Nelson, Ed Nagel, Mary Worth, and Larry Dodge and other(s), during the critical time window of 7:30-9 a.m.. The plan was to make sure that all potential jurors in the Sless case received at least some material--and that story has a happy ending, as you can read in "An Interview with Rodger Sless".
Meanwhile, another very exciting, if completely unanticipated success story was being written simultaneously: One who was involved with handing out the brocures, whose father is serving a 37-month sentence for merely being aware of a marijuana growing operation, reported that nine members of the Aguirre family were being tried for possession of "several thousand pounds" of marijuana in the same Federal Courthouse in Albuquerque during that same week--so that jurors in both trials received FIJA materials. The jury acquitted three family members, and hung on charges against the remaining six, voting variously 3 to 9, 5 to 7, 7 to 5 for acquittal!
It turns out that the forewoman of the Aguirre jury, Mara Taub, not only publishes the Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, but has been on the FIJA mailing list for some time. She has told us that the verdicts were very much jury nullification verdicts, made possible by the "contamination" of the jury with FIJA's forbidden knowledge. Mara has now signed on as the Santa Fe FIJA Coordinator.
The prosecution plans to seat another jury for a second trial for the six who were not acquitted, while [name withheld by request -- Ed.] is organizing another leafleting expedition to ensure that the second jury is at least as fully informed as the first!