Opinion ID: 2751143
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Direct Evidence of the Final Yield.

Text: There are several ways for the State to present direct evidence of the “actual, measured weight” of a defendant’s final yield. The State may introduce evidence of the amount of tangible, finished product as weighed by a forensic scientist. E.g., Wilhelmus v. State, 824 N.E.2d 405, 416– 17 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005). The State may also elicit direct testimony of the actual weight of the final yield from “those who regularly use or deal in the substance” or “developed an acute ability to assess the weight” of the drugs in which they deal. Halsema, 823 N.E.2d at 674 (internal quotation marks omitted). Or the State may offer testimony from police officers or detectives who regularly investigate methamphetamine crimes to establish the weight of the final product. See id. These are just three examples of how the State may show the “actual, measured weight.” But only direct evidence, not circumstantial evidence, may sustain a weight enhancement. Evidence of spent reaction vessels that test positive for methamphetamine found alongside piles of precursors and paraphernalia—empty boxes of pseudoephedrine, piles of lithium batteries, bottles of Coleman fuel, and coffee filters—will certainly support the lesser included offenses of Class B felony manufacturing methamphetamine or Class C felony possession of precursors. But precursors and spent reaction vessels are not the “actual, measured weight” of three grams of methamphetamine. They are simply circumstantial evidence of manufacturing activity. Circumstantial evidence, however, may corroborate the credibility of a witness who testifies that a particular defendant manufactured a specific amount of methamphetamine. A jury that hears a defendant’s co-manufacturer state that he pulled ten grams of methamphetamine from five reaction vessels may be more likely to believe him if the State is able to show that they discovered at least five spent reaction vessels at the location where the defendant was “cooking.” But the jury is free to believe the co-manufacturer even without any corroborating or circumstantial evidence, because “[i]t is the fact-finder’s role, not that of appellate courts, to assess witness credibility and weigh the evidence to determine whether it is sufficient to support a conviction.” Drane, 867 N.E.2d at 146. As discussed below, there was sufficient evidence to support Buelna’s conviction. B. The Evidence Is Sufficient to Support Buelna’s Conviction. Buelna’s accomplice, Slabach, admitted to pulling about six grams of methamphetamine from three spent vessels in the attic on the morning of Buelna’s arrest, and Pantoja testified that 12 Buelna and Slabach had been “cooking” methamphetamine together earlier that same day. The State presented evidence that eight spent reaction vessels were found in the attic, in addition to the three active vessels. In this case, then, there is direct testimony of “actual, measured weight” well in excess of the three-gram threshold by someone who “regularly use[s] or deal[s] in the substance” or “developed an acute ability to assess the weight” of the drugs they manufacture, Halsema, 823 N.E.2d at 674, and of Buelna’s participation in the process. And the circumstantial evidence of the presence of eight spent reaction vessels corroborates Slabach’s and Pantoja’s testimony. The jurors were certainly free to disbelieve Slabach’s and Pantoja’s testimony. But they could also reasonably rely on that testimony alone to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the “actual, measured weight” of the pure methamphetamine produced by Buelna was well in excess of the three-gram minimum necessary to exceed the A-felony threshold. Under the standard of review for sufficiency claims, in which we consider only the evidence favorable to the judgment without reweighing, Slabach’s and Pantoja’s testimony is sufficient to establish the weight threshold beyond reasonable doubt. Thus, we affirm Buelna’s conviction.