[420 Girl]

Jurors today will start deliberating in the trial of a Somerset County man who is accused of growing 17 marijuana plants behind his home, drugs he said he used to treat his multiple sclerosis.

John Ray Wilson, 37, of Franklin Township, is accused of three drug offenses, including first-degree maintaining or operating a drug production facility. A conviction on that count could mean up to 20 years in prison.

Testimony started Tuesday in Somerville before Superior Court Judge Robert Reed, and the attorneys delivered closing arguments this morning.

Supporters of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act hail Wilson’s case as a prime example of why legislators need to quickly pass the bill that would give the patients of debilitating diseases structured access to the drug.

But during the trial, Reed barred all references to Wilson’s disease except one, having previously ruled that personal use is not a defense, and mention of his illness could give him a sympathetic reason for breaking the law.

Wilson also is charged with second-degree manufacturing and third-degree drug possession for the processed marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms State Police confiscated on Aug. 18, 2008, from the dwelling he rented on Skillmans Lane.

Wilson was allowed to testify that he told police he was not a drug dealer, but was growing the plants to treat his multiple sclerosis. Defense lawyer James Wronko used that to cast doubt on the testimony from the detectives who responded after a National Guard helicopter pilot spotted the plants. The officers testified that they did not discuss his reasons for growing the plants.

“That leads you to a credibility determination,” Wronko told jurors. “If you conclude that somebody lied to you, you have the ability to disregard their entire testimony.”

“It makes no sense” that the officers would not query Wilson about the plants.

Deputy Attorney General Russell Curley told jurors to focus on Wilson’s testimony.

“He admitted 99 percent of what the officers said,” Curley said. He admitted he had learned how to grow the plants from the internet, the plants were his and he took care of them.

“We can convict solely on what the defendant said,” Curley said. Wilson took the stand, took an oath, “and confessed to the crimes.”

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