June 17, 1994 – What Did It Mean to You?
Some people remember it as the day of OJ’s slow-speed freeway chase. Others recall this as the day a major blow was struck for liberty and freedom of choice as a New Mexico jury returned an acquittal verdict in the trial of Rodger Sless for selling vitamins to American citizens.
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the Libertarian Party nationally, and the many Libertarians in New Mexico who stood up for, and me, as I went through the ordeal of facing a power-crazed Federal Government as they tried to send me to jail for the crime of providing harmless supplements to people who choose to take them.
As many of you know, Nancy Lord, the LP vice- presidential candidate in 1992, defended me (along with Albuquerque attorney Richard Utman) in Federal court and thoroughtly beat the suits from D.C. Parts of her closing argument were reprinted in the LP national paper. And many New Mexicans lent great moral support, from Ed Nagel and Mary Warner who attended most of the trial and who publicized the case, to Kay Stone, and Attila Csanyi for their support and publicity efforts, to Paul and Donna Luther, who gave Nancy a place to stay and work all hours of the day and night, pulling the case together in just about 5 weeks.
I also want to publicly express my gratitude to the friends and customers who came to the courtroom when they could, especially the “regulars”, Phil Safier and Jim Dougherty: they gave me strength and courage as I looked out and saw them there in the galley. And the amazing folks who came hundreds of miles at their own expense to testify as character witnesses, or as witnesses for the defense: including Mary Ruwart, Dr. Joan Priestley, Dr. Chris Merchant, Donna McGlone, Jean Carr, Darlene Vondy, expert witnesses and loyal customers, all supporters of freedom of choice. And finally Randy Rosenblatt, David Chittock, and Jeff Perlis, friends who’ve known me for over 20 years and who took the witness stand to attest to my character and my reputation for honesty, in the face of twisted prosecution attempts to lead the jurors astray of the truth.
The Libertarian Party, of which I became a registered member in 1994, will always mean something special to me, because I saw in it people who took actions in support of their beliefs and principles, rather than just paying lip-service to them. People of that kind of courage are rare, and you should all be very proud of that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I did a mailing to my customers last Fall entitled “We Won and We’re Back!” But with the federal government you always have the specter of more harassment possible in the future. I want to let people know what it was we were fighting for, and so I am going to mention my products and how you can find out more about them if you’re interested. Just what is it that the Government wants so badly to keep out of our hands? Could it have anything to do with feeling better, stronger mentally and physically, being in command of our physical health and less at the mercy of the corporate medical monolith? You decide.