VIRGINIA — An Iron Range man has admitted to smoking marijuana before causing a
crash that killed a passenger in October.
David Kevin Medicine, 38, of Virginia, pleaded guilty last week in State District Court to a felony count of criminal vehicular homicide.
According to court documents, Medicine smoked the drug while traveling from Tower to Virginia and back Oct. 21.
The defendant, whose license was revoked nearly two decades ago, was reportedly driving at or above full highway speed when he plowed into a pickup truck that had stopped for a traffic incident.
A backseat passenger, Cathy Marjorie Johnson, 61, of Tower, was fatally injured. Medicine was among four others who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Medicine is expected to argue for a probationary sentence, according to the terms of a plea agreement with the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office. A prosecutor, however, will argue for a prison term under state guidelines.
Judge Michelle Anderson ordered a background investigation and chemical dependency evaluation ahead of sentencing Feb. 5.
According to court documents:
Traffic was backed up along Highway 169 shortly after 8 p.m. as a pickup truck and trailer were stuck and blocking both lanes between Fireweed Road and County Road 21, in Wuori Township.
A trooper was on the scene talking with the driver when he reported hearing tires squealing and the sound of a vehicle crash to the south. He drove to that location and found the Ram in the northbound ditch with rear-end damage and a Chevrolet Impala in front of it with heavy front-end damage.
The pickup driver, Gregory Lenz, 58, of Embarrass, told the trooper he slowed and put on his four-way flashers as he approached the backup. But he noticed the Impala behind him was not going to stop, so he cranked the wheel and aimed for the ditch. The collision, nonetheless, left him with a “banged-up left arm, scuff marks on his back and a bad headache.”
Troopers noted a “strong odor of marijuana” coming from Medicine’s Impala and found Johnson dead. She had not been wearing a seat belt. The front-seat passenger, Angela Buckanaga, 45, of Tower, reported that her stomach, knees and chest hurt.
Medicine stated that he was traveling an estimated 65 mph and had just completed a pass of a slower vehicle, moving back into the right lane just in time to see the Ram. He told the trooper he tried to stop but couldn’t.
However, the occupants of the vehicle he had just passed estimated Medicine was traveling up to 75 mph. They told troopers they saw the Ram stopped with its flashers on, but they never saw the Impala’s brake lights, indicating it never slowed.
Medicine acknowledged his license had been revoked “for a long time” and reported drinking two shots of alcohol about an hour and a half before the crash.
A preliminary breath test revealed a blood-alcohol concentration of just 0.009, well within the legal limit for driving, but troopers reported he showed signs of impairment in multiple field sobriety tests.
Buckanaga told the troopers Medicine had given her and Johnson a ride from Tower to Virginia to go shopping. She said they were on the return trip and that she and the driver had smoked marijuana on the road in both directions.
Troopers said they found a small baggie of cannabis between the front passenger seat and center console, along with another baggie and paraphernalia under the driver’s seat.
Tom Olsen covers crime and courts and the 8th Congressional District for the Duluth News Tribune since 2013. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth and a lifelong resident of the city. Readers can contact Olsen at 218-723-5333 or tolsen@duluthnews.com.
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