Opinion ID: 2608558
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the two convictions

Text: Appellant contends that on the facts of this case he cannot be convicted of both the sale and the possession of a controlled substance. We do not agree. Testimony in the record before us shows that appellant originally possessed an ounce of cocaine, and that he sold a quarter ounce to an agent of an undercover narcotics officer. There was also testimony that the appellant consumed, personally, some of the cocaine which he did not sell. Thus there was evidence upon which the jury could infer that there was an unlawful sale of the cocaine to the undercover narcotics agent which violated NRS 453.321(1), and that he was in unlawful possession of the remainder of the cocaine in violation of NRS 453.336(1). See Kellett v. Superior Court of Sacramento County, 63 Cal.2d 822, 48 Cal. Rptr. 366, 409 P.2d 206 (Cal. 1966); cf. Fairman v. State, 83 Nev. 137, 425 P.2d 342 (1967). The crime of possession, therefore, did not merge with that of possession for sale, since a certain amount of the substance was the predicate for each separate offense.