Opinion ID: 355173
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 25 Roya challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for the first four counts on the ground that the Government failed to prove that he dispensed controlled substances as required by the statute. 7 The definitional section of the statute defines dispense as: 26 to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by, or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing and administering of a controlled substance and the packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for such delivery. 27 21 U.S.C. § 802(10). At trial, the Government proved that Roya wrote prescriptions for controlled substances. On appeal, Roya avers that the statute requires more than issuing a patient a prescription. We reject this narrow construction as inconsistent with the definitional section of the statute read as a whole. Section 802(10) provides that dispense means to deliver. Section 802(8) provides that deliver means actual, constructive, or attempted transfer. Thus, dispense includes constructive transfers which encompass Roy's actions of issuing written prescriptions to patients entitling them to purchase the substances from a pharmacist. The Third Circuit employed this reasoning in the course of upholding a conviction of a physician for violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The physician issued prescriptions for Schedule II controlled substances, but the prescriptions were never filled. The Third Circuit held that the physician dispensed controlled substances by issuing the prescriptions. The court stated that: 28 a prescription for a substance cannot be regarded as less than the constructive or attempted transfer of the substance itself, since a prescription is the written representation of the drug and enables its possessor to claim physical custody and control over the drug prescribed. 29 United States v. Tighe, 551 F.2d 18, 20 (3d Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 823, 98 S.Ct. 68, 54 L.Ed.2d 80 (1977). 30 Appellant challenges his conviction on Counts 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22 on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence. He argues that the Government's evidence was insufficient to prove that he dispensed the controlled substance for other than a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of his professional practice. We note at the outset that we must sustain the fact-finder's verdict on appeal if, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the Government, a rational trier of fact could have found from the evidence and inferences drawn therefrom that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942); United States v. Faulkner, 360 F.2d 880, 881 (7th Cir. 1966). 31 We find the evidence clearly sufficient under our standard of review to sustain the conviction. The agents for whom appellant prescribed the controlled substance all testified that appellant did not ask for a medical history during any of the interviews; nor did he conduct a single physical examination of any of the agents. Furthermore, the testimony of expert witnesses indicated that these actions were outside the course of professional practice. 32 For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the conviction on all counts. 33 AFFIRMED.