Doctor Acquitted Of Overdosing 3 Doors Down Guitarist

MOBILE, Ala. (CelebrityAccess) A jury has acquitted Dr. Richard Snellgrove of of prescribing drugs that killed 3 Doors Down guitarist Matthew Roberts.

Snellgrove had been indicted on 13 counts of unlawful distribution of drugs and health care fraud tied to Roberts’ 2016 death. The not guilty verdict was returned Monday in Mobile, Ala.

Prosecutors said Snellgrove prescribed drugs to Roberts even though he knew the guitarist struggled with addiction. However, Snellgrove attorney Dennis Knizley introduced text messages that showed Roberts was seeking illegal drugs in addition to the meds prescribed by Snellgrove, arguing that alone showed Roberts’ death could not be blamed on the doctor, according to the Associated Press.

“He was obtaining and abusing street drugs at the same time he was obtaining drugs and to a certain degree deceiving Dr. Snellgrove,” Knizley told the AP after the verdict.

Roberts was a co-writer of the band’s hit “Kryptonite.” He left the band in 2012 after its European tour and checked into rehab. He was found dead in a hotel hallway in West Bend, Wis., in 2016. He was in town for a charity concert.

Snellgrove was accused of prescribing escalating doses of medication to Roberts imprudently. U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose last week dismissed four charges that the doctor had written prescriptions to Roberts’ roommate / cousin knowing they were actually for Roberts, but Knizley said prosecutors never proved those claims, according to the AP.

Snellgrove is still part of a civil lawsuit filed by Roberts’ family, which is also suing Rite Aid Corp. and others. That case was stayed pending the outcome of yesterday’s decision.