KITSAP MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEFENDANT ACQUITTED

A medical marijuana patient being prosecuted in Kitsap County
Superior Court for drug trafficking was found not guilty on Tuesday
morning, after a jury ruled that his use of the drug was within the law.

The jury deliberated for approximately two hours prior to its ruling.

After the verdict, the prosecution maintained that the case had
nothing to do with the treatment itself. Instead, it had to do
whether defendant Bruce Wayne Olson was selling the homegrown drug for profit.

"Each county is struggling to understand what is an appropriate
amount of marijuana for medical use," said Defense Attorney Thomas
Balerud. "The prosecutors should look to the will of the public to
determine this. In this case, the jury spoke its mind and determined
that no lawyers should be able to overrule a doctor's judgement."

Prosecutor Alexis Foster said this was not a precedent-setting case
and would not affect how such violations are prosecuted in the future.

"This was never about medical marijuana," she said. "We believed it
was an illegal manufacturing case, and that the defendant was
breaking the law. We will continue to prosecute anything we believe
to be a distribution site."

Balerud positioned the case as a test of medical marijuana use,
boiled down to the testimony of two witnesses: Steven Kenney for the
prosecution, a former drug user who testified about Olson's drug
dealing, and Dr. Thomas Orvald, a cardiac surgeon who has approved
medical marijuana patients in several states.

Balerud attempted to balance the witnesses, asking jurors whether
they found a doctor to have more or less credibility than a former
addict who could not supply specific details. Foster disagreed with
this characterization, saying that Kenney was experienced in the
world he was describing and was able to recognize and testify about
illegal activity.

Foster later told the jury that Kenney's testimony lacked impact
"because he was nervous."

Both Olson and his wife, Pamela, were arrested in May 2007 after an
investigation by WestNet, the local drug enforcement task force. At
the time, they had a grow operation with 48 plants, which fit one
assessment of the legal amount for a medical marijuana patient. At
the time each patient was allowed 24 plants, and both Olsons were
approved patients.

The prosecution alleged that the crop was being sold commercially,
and that the Olsons were hiding behind medical marijuana laws as
cover for a drug operation.

Pamela Olson accepted a plea last year. Bruce Olson decided to go to
trial as the law had changed and he was advised that he had a better
chance of acquittal.

The trial was attended by a floating group of medical marijuana
activists, from patients to political activists. Several of them
noted that it was rare for such cases to go to trial, as defendants
usually enter a plea.

These activists filled the courtroom throughout the trial, with no
visible support for the prosecution's position.

Olson, who turns 55 on Wednesday, maintained a subdued manner
throughout the trial, and barely talked when he was in the courtroom.
This changed on Tuesday, when he was laughing and joking with his
attorney prior to the verdict's reading.

When it was announced Olson blurted "thank you, thank you you guys"
to the jury, prompting Superior Court Judge Leila Mills to repeat her
admonition to stay quiet until the jury was released.

"As a businessman I am really discouraged at all the money that was
spent on this trial," Olson said. "It was a waste, and a lot of
people who have seen the trial and are in business are wondering why
I was prosecuted."

Prosecuting Attorney Russ Hauge said last week that his office did
not provide a more vigorous prosecution to this case as any other,
and that the office did not spend a lot of money flying in expert
witnesses. When he was asked later about Kelley's expenses he said he
did not know all the details of the case, but still felt it was not
excessively expensive.

On March 18 the Port Orchard Independent filed a public records
disclosure request to determine the specific costs of the case. At
the time, Hauge said that his office "does not specifically track
cases" and probably would not be able to provide this data. However,
the Independent received notification this week that the request
would be addressed within 30 days.

Kitsap County will continue as a battleground in the legal tussle
over medical marijuana when the pre-trial hearing for patient Glenn
Musgrove opens on Friday. Many of the activists who appeared in
support of Olson trial intend to return to Port Orchard for Musgrove's hearing.