Robinson v. Commonwealth

181 S.W.3d 30, 2005 WL 2316181
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 19, 2006
Docket2004-SC-000050-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 181 S.W.3d 30 (Robinson v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. Commonwealth, 181 S.W.3d 30, 2005 WL 2316181 (Ky. 2006).

Opinion

SCOTT, Justice.

The Appellant, David Lee Robinson, was convicted by the Grayson Circuit Court of Manufacturing Methamphetamine, First-Degree Trafficking in a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine), Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was sentenced to 20 years for manufacturing and ten 10 years for trafficking, 12 months and a $500 fine for possession of marijuana and 12 months and a $500 fine for possession of drug paraphernalia. The court ordered the felony sentences be run consecutively for a total of thirty (30) years and the misdemeanor sentences were to run concurrent therewith. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the Appellant’s convictions on all counts, but reverse and remand for a new sentencing phase.

FACTS

On August 7, 2001, Benjamin Campbell went to the home, of James Clemons, a close friend of his father, for the purpose of sharing the news of his August 6, 2001, marriage to Samantha (Higdon) Campbell. Benjamin, however, was surprised by the less than friendly reception he received upon his arrival at the Clemons house; in fact, Clemons ran Benjamin off his property.

Benjamin appeared upset upon his return to his new bride. Samantha then decided to pay a visit to James Clemons to see just why her husband had been treated so poorly.

When Samantha reached the Clemons house, there was a man on the front porch calling someone on his cellular telephone. When she asked to speak to Clemons, she was told Clemons was not there; Samantha, though, knew Clemons was there. After the man on the front porch left, she walked to the back of the house whereupon she detected the smell of ether. She then looked through the window of the back door where she saw “the liquid fire (drain cleaner) and coke bottles and hoses and the white powdery substance and stuff like that.” She knew what the stuff was because her husband was on drugs and she, too, had taken methamphetamine. There were four persons in the house; she *33 recognized Clemons as one of them, but did not recognize, at that time, any of the others. She also saw one of the individuals smoking the powdery substance in a light bulb, a common method of methamphetamine use. She went back to the front of the house because she felt “there was trouble there.”

When she returned to the front of the house, Clemons came out to speak to her. According to Samantha, “He was cussing and I asked him about Ben, and he said Ben was trouble.... I just know that he said he didn’t want him there.” Clemons told her to leave and, again, began cursing. Ultimately, he shoved her off the porch, referring to her as a “whore” and “bitch.”

The next morning, the newlywed Camp-bells went to the Leitchfield Police Department to report the incident. The report was given to the Deputy Dennis Poteet of the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office as it was determined to have occurred outside the city limits.

Samantha then related to the Deputy the events of the previous day. She told him she smelled ether and that there was still smoke in the room from the individuals having smoked the “crank.” She reported she recognized Clemons and that there were three other males she did not recognize. The Appellant, David Robinson was one of the males Samantha later identified as being present that day; though she did not know his identity at that time.

Soon thereafter, Deputy Poteet obtained a search warrant for the Clemons residence. At the time of the execution of the search warrant, Clemons was not at home, but the Appellant was present in the residence. In what was believed to be the Appellant’s bedroom, the search uncovered two small packets of what was later determined to be methamphetamine, a partial marijuana cigarette and other drug paraphernalia, including a light bulb.

In the kitchen of the residence was a bottle with capsules of MSM, plastic baggies, coffee filters, salt, and an additional packet of white substance. Additional paraphernalia in the form of scissors and a pair of hemostats was found in the living room.

In the back of a pickup truck, parked behind a garage near the house, police found a glass jar with a coffee filter on the top of it, a 20 oz. Sprite bottle with a hole in the cap that had allegedly been modified for use as an “HCI generator” (an item of equipment used in the final step in the manufacture of “usable” methamphetamine), a substance which was alleged to have a strong ether smell (this item was never tested), a turkey baster and some coffee filters.

Thereafter, the Appellant and Clemons were both indicted by the Grayson County grand jury. Robinson was charged with the offenses of First-Degree Trafficking in a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine) and Manufacturing Methamphetamine. A superseding indictment was issued adding a firearm enhancement to the trafficking and manufacturing charges and adding a charge of possession of marijuana enhanced by possession of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia enhanced by possession of a firearm, and possession of a radio (police scanner) 1 .

The trial was conducted by the Grayson Circuit Court though it was held in Meade County with a Meade County jury. This was a result of the inability of the Grayson Circuit Court to seat a jury from Grayson County at a previous trial date.

At trial, Samantha Campbell testified as to her account of the events of August 7, *34 200L Deputy Poteet testified concerning the search of the residence conducted the morning after Samantha’s visit. He testified that there was no methamphetamine lab in operation when he arrived there; he further testified that he was a close neighbor to Clemons and that he noticed Clemons frequently had many, short-term visitors to his house.

Jennifer Winnegar, a chemist with the Kentucky State Police Central Lab in Frankfort testified concerning the testing she performed on the items that were submitted to her and upon the operation of clandestine methamphetamine labs. Winnegar testified that there were several different methods of manufacturing methamphetamine but that the items found during the search of the Clemons house were consistent with the type of items necessary using the “Nazi Method” or the “Anhydrous Ammonia Reduction Method.” 2 She testified regarding the process necessary to manufacture methamphetamine from beginning to end or until “usable” methamphetamine results. She testified that several, though not all, of the items seized during the search either were methamphetamine or contained methamphetamine residue. She further testified that there was 4.535 grams of measurable methamphetamine found during the search.

She further explained to the jury that there is a difference between “methamphetamine a controlled substance” and “usable methamphetamine.” She explained that “usable methamphetamine” was the form of the product that would be sold to the ultimate user on the street, but that “methamphetamine a controlled substance” resulted prior to the final purification step (use of HCI generator). Nonetheless, she testified that methamphetamine was a Schedule II controlled substance regardless of its grade of purity or whether it was the “usable” form of the product. 3

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Bluebook (online)
181 S.W.3d 30, 2005 WL 2316181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-commonwealth-ky-2006.