State v. Sills

405 S.W.3d 631, 2013 WL 4080664, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 921
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 13, 2013
DocketNo. ED 97958
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 405 S.W.3d 631 (State v. Sills) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Sills, 405 S.W.3d 631, 2013 WL 4080664, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 921 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

LISA S. VAN AMBURG, Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Curtis Sills (“Defendant”) appeals from the judgment of the trial court, following a bench trial, convicting him of trafficking drugs in the second degree, section 195.223 RSMo Cum.Supp.2001. Defendant contends the trial court erred in finding him guilty, because the State did not present sufficient evidence to prove that he was in possession of more than two grams of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base, an element necessary to prove his guilt. Alternatively, he contends the court plainly erred in allowing into evidence incriminating statements and a subsequent written confession he made to police. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On the evening of May 10, 2011, Detectives Curtis Burgdorf and Craig Robertson [632]*632received information that a person wearing an arm sling and fitting Defendant’s description was in possession of crack cocaine in the area near Aloe Plaza, between Market and Chestnut Streets in the City of St. Louis. The detectives located Defendant and monitored his activity from their unmarked vehicle. They watched him as he appeared to engage in a drug transaction with an unknown woman. The detectives then exited their vehicle and approached him. They identified themselves as police, and asked him if he had anything on him. Defendant immediately admitted to having crack cocaine in his possession. Before the detectives could search him, Defendant retrieved his inhaler from a sling around his arm, and handed it to Detective Burgdorf. The detective inspected the inhaler and located what he believed to be crack cocaine inside of it. He then placed Defendant under arrest and read him his Miranda rights. After he was transported to the police station Defendant waived his Miranda rights and admitted in a written statement to possession of crack cocaine.

On July 11, 2011, the State charged Defendant with trafficking drugs in the second degree. Defendant waived his right to a jury trial and this case was tried before the court. At trial, the State presented evidence that Defendant was in possession of between 2 and 2.02 grams of crack cocaine at the time of his arrest. At the close of evidence, Defendant moved for judgment of acquittal, arguing the State failed to prove he possessed more than two grams of crack cocaine, an element essential to prove his guilt. The court denied Defendant’s motion. Thereafter, the trial court found Defendant guilty and sentenced him to ten years in prison as a prior and persistent drug offender. This appeal follows.

DISCUSSION

In his first point, Defendant contends the court erred in convicting him of trafficking drugs in the second degree, because the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he possessed more than two grams of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base. Specifically, Defendant contends the evidence was insufficient to prove the cocaine he had in his possession weighed more than two grams, as required by section 195.223.3. We disagree.

The credibility and weight of testimony are for the fact-finder to determine. State v. Crawford, 68 S.W.3d 406, 408 (Mo. banc 2002). On appeal, this Court does not reweigh the evidence or assess whether the evidence at trial established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Miller, 372 S.W.3d 455, 463 (Mo. banc 2012). Rather we look to whether, in the light most favorable to the verdict, any rational fact-finder could have found the essential elements of the crime true beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. We accept as true all of the evidence favorable to the State which tends to prove a defendant’s guilt, including all inferences in support thereof, and disregard all contrary evidence and inferences. Id.

A person commits the class B felony of trafficking drugs in the second degree if he possesses or has under his control more than two grams but less than six grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base. § 195.223(3). “The weight of the substance is an essential element of this crime.” State v. Givens, 917 S.W.2d 215, 216 (Mo.App. W.D.1996).

Here, the State adduced sufficient evidence to prove Defendant had more than two grams of cocaine base in his possession at the time of his arrest. The State called Brittany Cange (“Cange”), a foren[633]*633sic scientist employed by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, to testify at trial. Cange testified that on June 16, 2011, she tested the substance seized on May 10, 2011 from Defendant’s inhaler and determined it to be cocaine base. She then weighed the crack cocaine and determined its weight at 2.01 grams “plus or minus 0.01 grams.” The State’s witness clarified the accuracy of the weight as follows:

Q. What does the plus or minus .01 grams mean?
A. That is the uncertainty that is associated with the scale that I use to measure the weight of the cocaine base.
Q. What does that mean, uncertainty?
A. Every scale has a distinguished margin of error; and based on daily calculations that were taken from a certified 10-gram weight, a standard — two standard deviations away from that mean is calculated at 0.01 grams. That is the uncertainty that is used lab-wide for the uncertainty of the balances in the drug section.
Q. So the certified weight that you use, how do you use that?
A. It’s placed in a drawer, and prior to case work on a daily basis, the weight is removed. A plastic weigh boat is put onto the scale. The scale is torn to reflect a value of 0.00 grams to begin. The weight is then placed in the plastic weigh boat to prevent contamination or oils from getting on the weight, and the weight is then measured.
Q. And what should it be exactly?
A. The weight is 10.00 grams.
Q. And do you do that every day before you begin testing?
A. That is correct.
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Q. And I’m interested if you could share with the Court what the certified weight weighed on the day that you performed the test in this case on June 16th, 2011.
[[Image here]]
A. The weight for — the weight weighed on June 16th of 2011, 10.00 grams.
Q. And that’s exactly what it’s supposed to weigh, correct?
A. That is correct.

Cange further testified that she was unable to weigh one hundred percent of the crack cocaine found in the inhaler because a small amount was lost when she transferred it to the scale as well as when she removed a “very minute” sample for color testing and confirmatory testing before it was weighed. She also stated that the cocaine base she tested contained water and the water in the substance may have evaporated between the period when Defendant was arrested on May 10, 2011, and the date it was weighed, on June 16, 2011.1

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Bluebook (online)
405 S.W.3d 631, 2013 WL 4080664, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 921, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sills-moctapp-2013.