Newton v. THE STATE

Court of Appeals of Georgia

Newton v. THE STATE

382 S.E.2d 432, 191 Ga. App. 664, 1989 Ga. App. LEXIS 728

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia

DecidedMay 24, 1989

DocketA89A0487

StatusPublished

Cited by3 cases

This text of 382 S.E.2d 432 (Newton v. THE STATE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Newton v. THE STATE, 382 S.E.2d 432, 191 Ga. App. 664, 1989 Ga. App. LEXIS 728 (Ga. Ct. App. 1989).

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Opinion

Pope, Judge.

Defendant Aubrey Gene Newton was convicted of the offenses of trafficking in cocaine and possession of marijuana. The statutory definition of trafficking in cocaine requires the defendant to be in possession of 28 grams or more of cocaine. OCGA § 16-13-31 (a). At tried, the State’s expert witness testified that the cocaine seized from the defendant’s possession weighed 28.0 grams. On cross-examination the expert witness stated that the electronic balance scales on which the cocaine was weighed has a margin of error of less than one percent. Defendant’s sole enumeration of error is that the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict as to the trafficking in cocaine charge because the State failed to prove the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

A directed verdict is authorized in a criminal case only “[w]here there is no conflict in the evidence and the evidence introduced with all reasonable deductions and inferences therefrom shall demand a verdict of acquittal. . . .” OCGA § 17-9-1 (a). The evidence that the scale on which the cocaine was weighed was subject to a margin of error of less than one percent does not demand a verdict of acquittal. Even if the jury could reasonably find from this evidence that the cocaine seized from defendant was slightly less than the requisite 28 grams, it could just have reasonably have found that the weight measurement was accurate or that the amount of cocaine seized slightly exceeded 28 grams. Thus, the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion for directed verdict.

Judgment affirmed.

Banke, P. J., and Sognier, J., concur.

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Pope, Judge.

Defendant Aubrey Gene Newton was convicted of the offenses of trafficking in cocaine and possession of marijuana. The statutory definition of trafficking in cocaine requires the defendant to be in possession of 28 grams or more of cocaine. OCGA § 16-13-31 (a). At tried, the State’s expert witness testified that the cocaine seized from the defendant’s possession weighed 28.0 grams. On cross-examination the expert witness stated that the electronic balance scales on which the cocaine was weighed has a margin of error of less than one percent. Defendant’s sole enumeration of error is that the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict as to the trafficking in cocaine charge because the State failed to prove the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

A directed verdict is authorized in a criminal case only “[w]here there is no conflict in the evidence and the evidence introduced with all reasonable deductions and inferences therefrom shall demand a verdict of acquittal. . . .” OCGA § 17-9-1 (a). The evidence that the scale on which the cocaine was weighed was subject to a margin of error of less than one percent does not demand a verdict of acquittal. Even if the jury could reasonably find from this evidence that the cocaine seized from defendant was slightly less than the requisite 28 grams, it could just have reasonably have found that the weight measurement was accurate or that the amount of cocaine seized slightly exceeded 28 grams. Thus, the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion for directed verdict.

Judgment affirmed.

Banke, P. J., and Sognier, J., concur.

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382 S.E.2d 432, 191 Ga. App. 664, 1989 Ga. App. LEXIS 728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/newton-v-the-state-gactapp-1989.

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