Opinion ID: 1702971
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Admissibility of Marijuana Use

Text: ¶ 22. Finally, Anderson argues that the Court of Appeals erred in finding that the trial court properly excluded a positive test for marijuana and a marijuana cigarette found in Ladner's pocket at the time of the fall. Anderson argues that it was not responsible for the drug test being given, but rather that a nurse at the hospital mistakenly thought Ladner was an Anderson employee and ordered the drug test. Anderson therefore argues that the decision of the Court of Appeals conflicts with this Court's decision in Hughes v. Tupelo Oil Co., 510 So.2d 502 (Miss.1987). In Hughes, we found that there was no basis to exclude blood alcohol test results in a civil context where the evidence was wrongfully obtained by a police officer who was not a party to the lawsuit. Id. at 505. ¶ 23. In the present case, however, the problem is not who ordered the samples drawn or who actually took them from Ladner, but that there was no evidence that Ladner was impaired at the time of incident. Anderson's foreman, Don Kellar, the individual who last saw and spoke to Ladner a few seconds before his death, specifically testified during his deposition that Ladner was not impaired in any form or fashion. In addition, there was not a proper foundation laid to demonstrate that the drug concentration was sufficient to impair Ladner's mental and motor skills to even the slightest degree, nor was there any proffer of such made by Accu-Fab or Anderson. ¶ 24. In Pope v. McGee, 403 So.2d 1269, 1271 (Miss.1981), this Court found that two six packs of warm beer and an unidentified white powder found in the defendant's car should have been excluded because they offered no proof on proximate causation of the collision, and its prejudicial value greatly outweighed its probative value. In so doing, the Court stated: There is no evidence that Sallee was intoxicated or that he had been drinking, the only evidence in the record was to the contrary .... Allowing evidence of the presence of these things in the Sallee automobile would be highly prejudicial and would shed no light on the proximate cause of the collision. Id. at 1271. ¶ 25. Absent a showing that the marijuana level in Ladner's system was sufficient to impair him in the present case, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in excluding the evidence. We therefore find this issue to be without merit.