A judge presiding over Edward "NJ Weedman" Forchion's witness tampering case denied the marijuana activist's request to be released from the Mercer County Jail while he waits for his new trial to start.

Forchion was ordered detained in March 2017 in order to ensure safety to witnesses or informants after he was indicted in the witness tampering case connected to his 2016 marijuana possession arrest.

His latest bid for release comes after he was found not guilty on one count of witness tampering, but faced a hung jury on the second count in November 2017.

Shortly after the jury's ruling, Forchion filed a motion to be released from the Mercer County Correction Center, pending further trial proceedings. He claims the state has failed to prove with clear evidence that he should be detained after the jury found him not guilty of second-degree witness tampering.

On Friday night, Forchion learned his request had been denied.

"The centuries-old doctrine of innocent until proven guilty doesn't exist anymore," Forchion told NJ Advance Media in call from the jail, in Hopewell Township.

Court documents in the case show that Judge Anthony Massi struck down the request, citing witness testimony from Forchion's trial that proves "no amount of monetary bail or non-monetary conditions ... assure the safety of others."

In his request, Forchion argued that he could be released with conditions like reporting to the court on a weekly basis.

At his initial detention hearing, Judge Peter Warshaw ruled to detain Forchion, saying he was concerned that he simply wouldn't comply with any conditions he was given.

Warshaw cited a video Forchion posted on social media where he says he'd ignore the judge's ruling not to identify the confidential informant involved in his 2016 marijuana raid.

"I am convinced, absolutely convinced, that this defendant will have no regard for anything," Warshaw said in March 2017. "He will do what suits him, he will do what he wants. He will rationalize it later."

Judge Massi reinforced those concerns last week, and stated that Forchion's recent request was "unsupported and based upon a misunderstanding of the rationale for the original detention decision," the documents show.

"The prosecution is simply getting a year of incarceration from me without conviction," Forchion told NJ Advance Media. "I have never been a danger."

Prosecutors have not yet set a date to try Forchion on his remaining charge of witness tampering.

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- Reporter Kevin Shea contributed to this report.

Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. Find NJ.com on Facebook.