Opinion ID: 1896184
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the circuit court erred in allowing evidence of prior crimes and other bad acts.

Text: ¶ 20. Walker argues that receipts found in the vehicle were inadmissible because: there was no chain of custody established, no predicate laid, there [was] no personal knowledge by the State and its witnesses as to who, what, when, where and how the receipts came to be in the vehicle[,] no lab results obtained and no physical evidence of the pre-June 12, 2000 [the day of the search and seizure] receipts. He cites no authority in support of this issue. ¶ 21. The court ruled that Walker opened the door to testimony about the receipts, [1] and that Walker was charged with, among other things, knowingly possessing precursor drugs or chemicals that, in addition to legitimate uses, may be used in manufacturing a controlled substance.... The receipts which were found in the driver's side door pocket, showed purchases of lithium batteries, a small turner, a pitcher, two boxes of salt, one measuring cup, one spoon, one package of Sudafed, one large gallon container, and two cans of starting fluid. The items were purchased from several different stores. Sergeant Stewart testified as follows: The salt is part of a process to cook the dope. [T]he container is used as a gas generator. When you pour professional Drano, when you mix it with salt, it causes a reaction, and it's used to bubble off the dope. It's called the gassing off process, and they use these containers to do that. The gallon jug would be used for a pill soak.... We're seeing they want to use plasticware instead of glassware most of the time. ¶ 22. We find that the receipts were properly admissible because they were for items used in manufacturing methamphetamine and because the defense opened the door to the admission of the receipts. Further, we find that the receipts were within the immediate physical vicinity of Walker inasmuch as they were found in the driver's side door pocket and Walker was driving the vehicle. The receipts were therefore under his immediate control and were properly linked to Walker. See Keys v. State, 478 So.2d 266, 267 (Miss.1985) (Constructive possession may be proved by showing a suspect had dominion and control over the location in which the contraband is found). We find that, even though because the products listed in the receipts were not found in the vehicle, the receipts were admissible because they tended to prove Walker's intent to manufacture methamphetamine. United States v. Valencia-Amezcua, 278 F.3d 901, 910 (9th Cir.2002) (Conviction for production of methamphetamine amply supported by powerful circumstantial evidence, the receipts for the purchase of household tools used in methamphetamine production, found in Amezcua's possession at the time of the arrest and showing purchases from stores near Amezcua's home.). Finally, we find that no State Crime Lab authentication was needed for unopened boxes of ephedrine which were in unbroken blister packages. There was no evidence that the substance within the ephedrine boxes was anything but ephedrine. This issue is without merit.