Title: State v. Kainz

State: north-dakota

Issuer: North Dakota Supreme Court

Document:

321 N.W.2d 478 (1982) STATE of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Gary KAINZ, Defendant and Appellant. Cr. No. 822. Supreme Court of North Dakota. July 1, 1982. *479 Owen K. Mehrer, State's Atty., Dickinson, for plaintiff and appellee. Freed, Dynes, Reichert & Buresh, Dickinson, for defendant and appellant; argued by Ronald A. Reichert, Dickinson. SAND, Justice. The defendant, Gary Kainz, was found guilty by the court of having delivered a controlled substance, cocaine, in violation of North Dakota Century Code § 19-03.1-23(1)(a) and was sentenced to five years in the North Dakota State Penitentiary. A judgment of conviction was issued and entered from which the defendant appealed. Various motions and proceedings took place before the trial court, culminating in the case being heard by the court on the following stipulation of facts:[1] On appeal, the defendant raised the following issues: During oral argument the parties conceded that the first two issues were resolved by State v. McDowell, 312 N.W.2d 301, (N.D.1981). and State v. Rippley, 319 N.W.2d 129 (N.D.1982), wherein we held that the Legislature has the authority constitutionally to forbid the doing of an act and to make the violation thereof a matter of strict criminal liability without regard to the intent or knowledge of the doer and that due process *480 is not violated by excluding criminal intent (culpability) as an element of the crime. The Rippley case also noted that the Legislature, in Ch. 106 S.L. 1975, deliberately removed the phrase "knowingly or intentionally" from § 19-03.1-23(3), which is a clear indication that the Legislature intended to eliminate from the statute in question a culpability requirement. In conjunction with these assertions, we note that under the North Dakota Constitution the Legislature has plenary authority except as limited by the North Dakota Constitution and the Constitution of the United States and appropriate Congressional acts. The North Dakota Constitution is an instrument of limitations rather than an instrument of grants such as the United States Constitution. State ex rel. Agnew v. Schneider, 253 N.W.2d 184 (N.D.1977). In addition, in State v. Knoefler, 279 N.W.2d 658, 662-63 (N.D.1979), we said: The court in Hanson continued by saying: Later in the same opinion he said: These statements and rationale apply to the instant case. Furthermore, we significantly note that the Legislature in NDCC § 19-03.1-02, authorizing the North Dakota State Laboratories Department to add or delete substances or reschedule all substances enumerated in certain sections, set out the following standards and guidelines to be followed: *482 Keeping in mind the principles of law expressed in Knoefler, supra, and United States v. Carolene Products Co., supra, and in the absence of any facts to the contrary, we are persuaded to assume that the Legislature, in classifying or reclassifying controlled substances as schedule II substances and narcotic drugs followed the same standards and guidelines it imposed upon the State Laboratories Department. We also take notice that the Illinois Supreme Court,[3] in People v. McCarty, 86 Ill. 2d 247, 56 Ill.Dec. 67, 427 N.E.2d 147 (1981), concluded that a rational basis existed to validate the Legislature's judgment to classify cocaine as a schedule II "narcotic drug" and thus such classification did not deny the defendant his constitutional right to equal protection under the law. In reaching this conclusion, the Illinois Supreme Court set out a sizable number of final decisions of state appellate courts and federal courts, all of which upheld the classification of cocaine as a narcotic for penalty purposes. They are: Although there may be some scientific basis for Kainz' argument that cocaine is not pharmacologically a narcotic drug, we agree with the overwhelming state and federal decisions that the Legislature has the authority to classify cocaine as a narcotic drug for control and penalty purposes. *483 This brings us to the last issue, "Did the State prove the elements of the offense charged?" Kainz was charged with violating NDCC § 19-03.1-23(1)(a), which provides as follows: Kainz points out that the statute and complaint require that the State prove that he delivered a controlled substance which is classified in schedule I or II and is a narcotic drug. Kainz contended that the State did not prove that the controlled substance (cocaine) was a narcotic drug. We have already determined, based on impressive and overwhelming court decisions, that the Legislature has the authority to classify cocaine as a narcotic drug as it did in NDCC § 19-03.1-01(15) for control and penalty purposes. The amended complaint, set out earlier herein, states that the defendant delivered a controlled substance known as cocaine in violation of NDCC § 19-03.1-23(1)(a), a class A felony. The parties actually stipulated that this took place and that the classification of cocaine as a narcotic was a legislative, rather than a scientific, classification. Accordingly, we believe the State did prove that Kainz delivered a controlled substance classified in schedules I or II and which is a narcotic drug pursuant to the definition in NDCC § 19-03.1-01(15). We therefore conclude on the basis of the authorities cited earlier that the judgment of conviction should be and the same is hereby affirmed. ERICKSTAD, C. J., and PAULSON, PEDERSON, and VANDE WALLE, JJ., concur. [1] Kainz also presented the testimony of Dr. Ronald Siegel, an expert on the pharmacological aspects of cocaine. [2] Dr. Siegel testified that cocaine is a stimulant as defined in subsection 2 of schedule III (NDCC § 19-03.1-09). [3] We believe this case has particular significance because the same court earlier, in People v. McCabe, 49 Ill. 2d 338, 275 N.E.2d 407 (Ill.1971), held that the inclusion of marijuana under the Narcotic Drug Act rather than under the Drug Abuse Control Act was a deprivation of due process and equal protection. Under the Narcotic Drug Act a first conviction of the sale was punishable by a mandatory ten-year minimum sentence without probation, whereas under the Drug Abuse Control Act the first offender was subject to a maximum one-year jail term with probation available. Of significance also was the fact that while the case was pending on appeal the legislature removed marijuana from the Narcotic Drug Act and reclassified it under the newly enacted Cannabis Control Act which imposed only minor criminal penalties for first conviction of a sale of marijuana. The court acknowledged that in light of these facts it ruled that the gross disparity between the penalties violated the defendant's rights under the equal protection clause. The court also observed that no gross disparity of penalty is present under the current law and that the legislature made no attempt to reclassify cocaine or reduce the penalty attached thereto. In the instant case we have no information that the legislature even considered a reclassification or change. Therefore, the rationale that the Illinois court applied in the McCabe case would have absolutely no application here.