The Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office announced last week it has dropped criminal charges against a local medical marijuana patient.
Olalla resident Glenn Musgrove, 56, was accused of unlawful use of a building for drug purposes. A WestNET report said that one of Musgrove’s neighbors reported the marijuana grown for medicinal treatment was being sold for profit.
Musgrove’s caregivers, David May and Jena Milo, also were facing prosecution.
All charges were dismissed.
“After looking over the case, we’ve decided we will not proceed,” said Felony and Juvenile Division Chief Tim Drury. “We do not think we can convince a jury of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Musgrove was arrested in March 2008. Many of the details gathered in the charging document originated from a confidential informant, but WestNET assembled financial data about Musgrove, his brother and his caregivers that suggested an illegal drug operation.
This would have been the second high-visibility medical marijuana case in Kitsap this spring, following that of Olalla resident Bruce Olson, who was acquitted March 24 of similar charges.
Clayton Longacre, who is representing Musgrove, was not immediately available for comment.
The previous trial drew medical marijuana advocates from throughout the northwest, who provided support for Olson during his trial.
Most had promised the same support for Musgrove.
Alexis Foster, who prosecuted Olson and was also assigned to the Musgrove trial, said shortly before the announcement that the case was sound and could be proven.
Foster said the prosecution was not based on the use of medical marijuana, but was proceeding because her office believed both Olson and Musgrove had broken the law. Olson was a certified medical marijuana patient at the time of his arrest, but was accused of selling his crop to others. Foster said she was not sure Musgrove was authorized to receive the drug, but felt he also was engaged in activity that did not conform to the law.
“Medical marijuana is not the issue here,” she said. “We prosecute these cases because we feel the law has been broken.”
Drury said Musgrove’s illness — he is a quadriplegic and must be transported on a gurney — was a factor in the prosecution’s decision to drop the case. Longacre said Musgrove’s condition was the result of a back injury and subsequent medical malpractice.
