Greenwade v. State

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of trafficking in cocaine. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by denying his motion for judgment of acquittal on the trafficking charge because the State had not chemically tested each baggie in Defendant's possession for cocaine before commingling and weighing the baggies' contents. The court of appeal affirmed, concluding that the contents of the nine individually wrapped baggies were properly commingled before they were chemically tested and weighed due to the particular circumstances that surrounded the discovery of the bags. The Supreme Court quashed the decision below, holding (1) in cases such as this one, the State must prove through chemical testing that each individually wrapped packet of white powder seized contains at least a mixture of a controlled substance before the State may combine and weigh the commingled substance; and (2) therefore, the trial court in this case should have granted Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal. Remanded. View "Greenwade v. State" on Justia Law