Opinion ID: 1346048
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: suppression hearing and trial

Text: Prior to trial, Konfrst filed a motion to suppress any evidence found as a result of the search of his vehicle. The district court denied the motion without stating its findings of fact. Konfrst properly objected to the admission of the challenged evidence at trial, which the district court likewise overruled. The State called Investigator Darwin Shaw at trial for the purpose of proving intent to deliver. Shaw testified that he has been a police officer for 18 years and an investigator for 11 years, that he has received training and education with respect to the investigation of illegal drug cases, and that he has investigated hundreds of illegal drug cases. Shaw stated that of the six individual baggies found under the wad of money, four of them weighed approximately 1 gram, one weighed about 1.5 grams, and one weighed approximately 3.4 grams, which Shaw said is commonly known as an eight ball. The large baggie found inside the flashlight weighed approximately 1 ounce. Shaw further testified, based on his training and experience, that the individually wrapped baggies of methamphetamine contained quantities commonly sold on the street, that the quantity of methamphetamine discovered was more than is commonly kept for personal use, that cash is the common mode of payment in drug cases, that the triple-beam scale discovered is a type of scale commonly used to weigh drugs such as methamphetamine, and that the empty baggies discovered appeared to be the same type as those used to hold the methamphetamine. Thus, Shaw stated that based on the amounts of controlled substances found, the weighing scale, the baggies, and the cash, his opinion was that these constitute the possibility that somebody is dealing drugs. At the close of the State's case, Konfrst made a motion for a directed verdict on the grounds that the State had insufficient evidence with regard to intent to deliver. The district court overruled Konfrst's motion. Konfrst did not present any evidence. The district court held that having considered all of the evidence presented and the various factors, the scale, the money, the individual baggies, and all of the circumstances of the case, I find that there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did as charged on June 25th, 1994, in Washington County, Nebraska, did then and there unlawfully, knowingly or intentionally possess with the intent to distribute, deliver, or dispense a controlled substance, to-wit: ... methamphetamine.... Konfrst was sentenced to a term of not less than 30 months nor more than 5 years in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. The Court of Appeals reversed Konfrst's conviction and remanded the cause with directions to dismiss, concluding that the evidence admitted against Konfrst at trial was seized in violation of his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. See, U.S. Const. amends. IV and XIV; Neb. Const. art. I, § 7. We granted the State's petition for further review.