State v. Allesi

216 N.W.2d 805, 1974 N.D. LEXIS 235
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 27, 1974
DocketCrim. 456
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 216 N.W.2d 805 (State v. Allesi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Allesi, 216 N.W.2d 805, 1974 N.D. LEXIS 235 (N.D. 1974).

Opinions

ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal by the plaintiff, State of North Dakota, from an order of the District Court for the First Judicial District, which dismissed the charge against the defendant, Mario J. Allesi, and discharged him from, custody. In an earlier decision, State v. Allesi, 211 N.W.2d 733 (N.D.1973), Allesi made a motion for a [808]*808dismissal of the State’s appeal, which we denied. We held that the action of the district court in entering an order dismissing the charge and discharging the defendant was error, that such action in effect quashed the information, and that the State under Section 29-28-07, N.D.C.C., could appeal to this court.

As a result of information supplied by Jerome Dale Hanson, an agent of the State Crime Bureau, detective Robert Fahey of Fargo, on April 25, 1973, filed a criminal complaint charging Allesi with the delivery of the controlled substance methamphetamine, in violation of Sections 19-03.1-09 and 19-03.1-23, N.D.C.C.

The language of Section 19-03.1-09, dealing with methamphetamine, is material to the resolution of one of the issues on appeal.

“19-03.1-09. Schedule III.—

“1. The controlled substances listed in this section are included in schedule III.
“2. Any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of the following substances having a potential for abuse associated with a stimulant effect on the central nervous system:
⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜
“c. Any substance which contains any quantity of methamphetamine, including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers;
* * * * * ” N.D.C.C.

Following a preliminary hearing conducted in Cass County Court on May 8, 1973, Allesi was bound over to district court on the delivery charge. His trial commenced on May 14, 1973, in Cass County District Court, Fargo, North Dakota.

A jury was duly empaneled and sworn to hear the case. The State called three witnesses, Jerome Dale Hanson, detective Robert Fahey, and David Shelton, a chemist with the North Dakota State Toxicology Laboratory. Hanson testified as to the details of the alleged delivery and the subsequent turning over of the suspected controlled substances to detective Fahey. Detective Fahey testified as to his receipt and marking of the substances and his subsequent delivery of such substances to David Shelton at the State Toxicology Laboratory. Shelton testified as to the chemical tests he performed before identifying the substances as methamphetamine. Shelton testified that methamphetamine is used as a stimulant and that it stimulates the central nervous system, including the brain and other organs. On cross-examination he said that he had made no quantitative tests to determine the amount of methamphetamine present and that he could not state that there was sufficient methamphetamine present in the packages he examined to stimulate a human being. At the conclusion of Shelton’s testimony, the State rested.

After the State had rested and out of the presence of the jury, the defendant, through his attorney, made a motion for an advised verdict of acquittal on the grounds that the State failed in its burden of proof and failed to prove a prima facie case. Instead of ruling on that motion, the trial court dismissed the case, saying in effect that Section 19-03.1-09(2) (c) required the State to prove: (1) the quantity of methamphetamine in the drugs sold, (2) that methamphetamine has a potential for abuse, and (3) that methamphetamine is a stimulant to the central nervous system, and that the State had failed to so prove.

Having previously determined that the trial court erred in dismissing the case, we must now determine whether the reasons it gave would have justified the granting of the motion for an advised verdict.

Shelton testified he found methamphetamine in the substances delivered to him and that methamphetamine is a stimulant. No testimony was received establishing the [809]*809quantity of methamphetamine or that the methamphetamine actually had a potential for abuse.

The State contends that under Section 19-0.3.1-09(2) (c), N.D.C.C., methamphetamine in any quantity has been declared a controlled substance and that it is illegal to deliver it in any quantity under Section 19-03.1-23(1) (b), N.D.C.C. The latter section reads:

“1. Except as authorized by this chapter, it is unlawful for any person to manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance. Any person who violates this subsection with respect to:
5}C * * * * *
“b. any other controlled substance classified in schedule I, II, or III, is guilty of a crime and upon conviction may be imprisoned for not more than ten years, or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both;”

With this contention of the State we agree.

The State asserts a prima facie case of delivery of a controlled substance was established through the testimony of its witnesses. Hanson testified that Allesi sold and delivered drugs to him for $58. Fahey testified that he delivered those drugs to Shelton for examination. Shelton testified that he analyzed the drugs delivered to him by Fahey and found that they contained methamphetamine.

The Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Chapter 19-03.1, N.D.C.C., was enacted by the Legislature in 1971. Methamphetamine was initially included by the Legislature in Schedule III, Section 19-03.1-09(2) (c), N. D.C.C. That section has not been amended, nor has the North Dakota State Laboratories Department deleted or rescheduled methamphetamine pursuant to Section 19-OS. 1-02, N.D.C.C. The Legislature initially determined which substances were to be controlled and placed them in respective schedules, with Schedule I containing the most dangerous and Schedule IV containing the least dangerous drugs.

Section 19-03.1-02 reads:

“Authority to control.—
“1. The North Dakota state laboratories department shall administer this chapter and may add substances to or delete or reschedule all substances enumerated in the schedules in sections 19-03.1-05, 19-03.1-07, 19-03.1-09, 19-03.1-11, or 19-03.1-13 pursuant to the procedures of chapter 28-32 of the North Dakota Century Code. In making a determination regarding a substance, the state laboratories department shall consider the following:
“a. the actual or relative potential for abuse;
“b. the scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known;
“c. the state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance;
“d. the history and current pattern of abuse;
“e. the scope, duration, and significance of abuse;
“f. the risk to the public health;
“g. the potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence liability; and
“h. whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this chapter.
“2.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
216 N.W.2d 805, 1974 N.D. LEXIS 235, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-allesi-nd-1974.