 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Murray3/21/1989
Appellant was convicted by a jury of one count of unlawful possession of a narcotic drug, cocaine, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. The court placed him on probation for four years. On appeal, appellant contends the court should have granted his motion for directed verdict because the state failed to show that he possessed a usable amount of cocaine. He also contends that the state committed fundamental reversible error in its final argument and that the court erred in not precluding evidence that he was an attorney. We affirm.
On December 30, 1983, appellant, a Tucson attorney, was stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence . After he was told he was under arrest, appellant walked between his car and the police car, reached into his back pocket and threw something underneath his car. One of the arresting officers retrieved from underneath the car a cocaine spoon and a small brown glass vial containing a powdery substance.
At trial appellant stipulated that he was in possession of a substance which he knew was cocaine but denied that it was a usable amount. The state's criminalist testified that the powder on the spoon weighed four milligrams and that the powder in the vial weighed seven milligrams. He testified that was a usable amount of cocaine. A narcotics detective and a sergeant with the Tucson Police Department both testified that they had observed many narcotics users use cocaine and that they had seen users taking cocaine in spoons the size of the one in appellant's possession.
Appellant's only witness, a physician and doctor of pharmacology, testified that it would take at least 16 milligrams of pure cocaine by injection to produce a narcotic effect and that a substance is not usable as a narcotic if it is not capable of producing a narcotic effect. After the state rested and again at the close of the evidence, appellant moved for a directed verdict which was denied.
DIRECTED VERDICT MOTION
Appellant argues that the court erred in failing to grant his motion for directed verdict. In reviewing a trial court's denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal, the appellate court is required to view the facts most strongly in favor of upholding the verdict. State v. Printz, 125 Ariz. 300, 609 P.2d 570 (1980). It is well
established that, in order to sustain a conviction for possession of any narcotic drug, there must be evidence that the defendant possessed a "usable" amount of the drug. State v. Murphy, 117 Ariz. 57, 570 P.2d 1070 (1977); State v. Moreno, 92 Ariz. 116, 374 P.2d 872 (1962).
In Moreno, our supreme court affirmed a conviction for possession of a small amount of heroin, holding as follows:
We believe the correct rule to be applied under a statute such as ours is that where the amount of a narcotic is so small as to require a chemical analysis to detect its presence, the quantity is sufficient if useable under the known practices of narcotic addicts. We hold that only in those cases where the amount is incapable of being put to any effective use will the evidence be insufficient to support a conviction.
92 Ariz. at 120, 374 P.2d at 875. Here, the evidence was conflicting. However, the state presented sufficient evidence that appellant possessed a usable amount, and the court properly denied the motion for a directed verdict and submitted the issue to the jury.
Appellant seeks to have us require that the drug be capable
Page 1 2 3 Arizona DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|