By Olivia Rizzo | For NJ.com
Despite being locked up for most of 2017, one of New Jersey’s most vocal marijuana legalization activists - Edward “NJ Weedman” Forchion, has remained as vocal as ever.
Opening statements in the witness tampering case against Forchion began last week.
Here’s how we got here:
Officers in tactical gear descended on NJ Weedman's Joint. (File photo)
The First Arrest
Forchion and several others are arrested in April 2016 on drug charges following a raid at his restaurant, Weedman's Joint, and his "cannabis church," the Liberty Bell Temple. Trenton police said they received numerous complaints from residents about noise and other issues at the restaurant, which he opened in 2015.
A two-month long investigation by the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force ultimately lead to the raid.
During that investigation police received information from a confidential informant claiming that Forchion sold him marijuana out of his restaurant.
Accusations of Witness Tampering
Throughout the summer of 2016, Forchion uses his social media platforms to ask his followers to find information about the man.
In August 2016, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Katz, seen above, files a motion for a protective order to keep the identity of the informant confidential. That October, Forchion outed a man he believed to be the confidential informant on social media, despite the fact that there was a motion pending.
The activist claims the informant was hired by the police to specifically bring charges against him. In late February of 2017, a judge ruled on Katz's motion and declared that the identity of the informant be kept private.
Second Arrest & Detention
In March of 2017 Forchion is arrested on witness tampering charges, which he recorded live on Facebook. He's been indicted on the witness tampering charges a few days before.
At the time of the arrest he told NJ Advance Media in a phone interview that he believed the second set of charges stemmed from him revealing the name of the confidential informant involved in the drug dealing case.
On March 7, 2017, Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw ruled that Forchion be kept detained, pending the resolution of his case, in order to protect the safety of the informant.
At his detention hearing, Forchion said he never intended to intimidate the informant or put him at risk. He said the informant reached out to him first and he instructed his social media followers not to harm the alleged informant.
Appeals, Orders & Motions
Forchion filed an appeal of Warshaw's detention hearing, and after paperwork flub and a response from the prosecutors, the appeal was reviewed and denied by the Appellate Court.
On April 18, 2017, the court ruled Forchion did not provide any “new material information” relevant to the issue of detention.
On May 8, Forchion’s attorney Edward Harrington Heyburn filed a motion to be relieved of his duties after he and his client had a falling out. The motion was granted.
...And More Motions
Forchion then applied to represent himself in court, which granted, and he was assigned an assistant council through the public defender’s office.
In June, he filed a motion to reopen his detention hearing, still hoping to be freed from the county jail before his trial began. After several hearings on the topic, his motion was denied again, this time by trial Judge Anthony Massi in August.
The activist tried to appeal Massi’s ruling, but an appellate court once again ruled that the judge had made a proper ruling.
The Joint Closes
In late summer, 2017, Forchion and girlfriend Debi Madaio announced that they're closing the restaurant to concentrate on the court battles.
Forchion had renamed it Weedbukx in April, with a logo that looked like Starbucks, which drew a response from the Seattle coffee company.
Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Katz and Assistant Prosecutor John Boyle at a Weedman hearing
Final Motions Before Trial
In the final two weeks before the trial was scheduled to start the prosecution and defense filed more last minute pre-trial motions.
A judge ruled that Forchion must follow proper court procedure while representing himself in court, and he cannot discuss evidence in other ongoing cases.
It was also established that the prosecution cannot use third-party comments made on Forchion's social media postings as evidence against him.
The Eve of Trial
With the jury selected and the last of the hearings complete, everything was ready for opening statements on Oct. 24, until they weren't.
Two jurors asked to be removed, and two new jurors were selected, causing another delay in the schedule.
Forchion also filed a last-minute motion, the night before the start, requesting the indictment against him be dismissed. Massi heard arguments for the motion but ultimately denied it due to the fact that Forchion had submitted it so late.
Opening Statements
The jury heard the first remarks from Forchion and prosecutors on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017.
Forchion told the jury he had been waiting eight months for this day in order to tell his side of the story.
Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor John Boyle told the jury that it was their job to decide if "a reasonable person" would interpret the activist's actions as a threat.
The jury also began to hear witness testimony from a Trenton police detective.
What's next
As the witness tampering case against moves forward, a lot hangs in the balance for Forchion.
Once the trial is over, he then has to face the drug distribution case from the raid on his restaurant. And has several pending maters in Trenton municipal court and his former attorney has filed a civil suit against Forchion and his girlfriend for violating attorney client privilege.
No matter how this trial ends, this will not be the last time the Weedman has to set foot in a courtroom.
RELATED COVERAGE:
NJ Weedman's long, strange trip as marijuana advocate
11 must-read tweets from marijuana advocate NJ Weedman
NJ Weedman hearing focuses on emails with ex-attorney
Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Find NJ.com on Facebook
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