Mark Allan Musolino appeals $1m drug ring conviction in Court of Appeal

An ex-Boost Juice boss says his $1m weed bust conviction should be overturned because a police officer who gave evidence at his trial was charged a month later.

A former Boost Juice boss jailed over a $1m drug bust is appealing his conviction because the arresting police officer who gave “significant” evidence at his trial was charged with misusing confidential information a month later.

Jailed businessman Mark Allan Musolino, 56, appeared in the Court of Appeal on Thursday after being found guilty by a jury – with co-accused Nicholas Craig Hallion, 51 – of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug.

Defence counsel for Musolino submitted his client was applying for bail and would appeal his conviction because evidence given during the trial by “significant witness” Constable Kelly Calicchio had “credibility” issues – given she was under investigation at the time for allegedly misusing confidential insider information.

Kelly Calicchio leaves Port Adelaide Magistrates Court after her first appearance. Picture: Brett Hartwig

A month after giving evidence, Ms Calicchio was arrested and charged with using that information to secure a benefit as a public officer. In the Adelaide Magistrates Court last month, she pleaded not guilty.

On Thursday, Justice Chris Bleby heard Ms Calicchio had attended a West Beach property and then arrested Musolino after he ran from the property – which was later found to have housed 192kg of cannabis.

A court previously heard Musolino fled out the back door and over the fence, before eventually stopping when a chasing police officer asked him to.

“So her evidence is that (Musolino said) ‘okay, okay. You got me, you got me’,” defence counsel submitted. “The dispute is whether it was that, or if it was ‘it’s okay, it’s okay’, which is what my client says he said. The difference is significant in my submission, and her (Ms Calicchio’s) evidence would have had a real impact on the process of reasoning for the jury.

Constable Kelly Calicchio (left) leaves Adelaide Magistrates Court after pleading not guilty to Using information to secure benefit. Picture: Charlie Dadds

She has been suspended from her duties as a police officer. Picture: SAPOL

“Certainly his flight from the scene was, in my submission, the most significant strand of the circumstantial case. The jury’s questions make clear that Constable Calicchio’s evidence was very important in relation to this assessment.

“Since the trial, the applicant (Musolino) has been made aware that Constable Calicchio was under police investigation during the trial, and was charged one month after the verdict. We say that a miscarriage of justice has come about in the missed opportunity to put in issue Constable Calicchio’s credit when it comes to evidence about the elements of flight.

“There was a clear misstatement of evidence which was critical, I submit, to the jury’s assessment of the evidence.”

During sentencing, Judge Emily Telfer said the cannabis found at the Military Rd property – which Hallion, of Woodville, was a tenant of – was worth between $850,000 and $1m.

She further noted Musolino and his wife had “bought, operated and sold a Boost Juice business and a cafe in Glenelg”.

At trial, Musolino claimed he was at the property for a matter “unrelated to the cannabis enterprise”.

Musolino was jailed for two years and 10 months with a non-parole period of one year and six months.

Hallion was jailed for four years and three months, with a non-parole period of two years and 21 days.

On Thursday, Justice Bleby granted Musolino home detention bail to face the Court of Appeal in February.