Court Opinion

ID: 9732717
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:32:51.327184+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:31.957609
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HEIPLE dissenting in part and concurring in part: The defendant was found guilty of selling cocaine to an undercover agent for $300. In fixing a fine for the defendant, the trial judge was mandated to fix the fine, “at not less than the full street value of the *** controlled substance seized.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 1005-9-1.1. The judge only had two items of evidence to consider on value. First, he had the actual recent sale of the subject property between a willing buyer and a willing seller for $300. Second, he had the opinion evidence of a drug agent that the property was really worth $990. The judge deemed the opinion of the drug agent to be more weighty and fixed the fine at $990. In doing so, the judge ignored the best evidence of value, the sale itself. Beyond that, we are dealing here with a statutory mandate that is impossible to meet. In the absence of a free market, a court is simply not in a position to reliably determine the “street value” of contraband. Contraband, by definition, is subject to confiscation. The State makes it illegal to own, possess or sell it. Buyers and sellers are subject to fines and imprisonment. Short of evidence of an actual cash sale, who is available to come forward to give evidence of value? Certainly no manufacturers, distributors or dealers are going to be willing to offer their services as expert witnesses. No professional certification societies exist as in the real estate industry to qualify professional witnesses in this field. Consumers of contraband are not going to be willing to offer evidence of their recent purchases. So, other than an actual sale, the court is left with the testimony of undercover narcotics agents whose stock in trade is dissemblance and mendacity. It should also be obvious, on reflection, that the very fact of drug enforcement drives up the price of the illicit drugs due to the risk factor. The higher the risk, the higher the price. Thus, the so-called street price of contraband will vary dramatically depending on the time, the place, the people, and the amount of law enforcement whether actual or perceived. In sum, it would seem that the street value of contraband drugs at any given moment cannot be determined by opinion evidence in any reliable sense. Hence, the fixing of a fine on that basis is probably a denial of substantive due process of law under both the Federal and State constitutions. It is not necessary to reach the constitutional point in this case, however, since a mere weighing of the evidence points to the fact that the best evidence of value in this case is the $300 sale price itself and not the opinion testimony of the narcotics agent as to the potential $990 street value. Accordingly, the fine in this case should be reduced to $300. Other than the above, I agree with the majority that the defendant is further entitled to a $35 credit against his fine for the seven days he spent in jail awaiting prosecution of his case. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 110 — 14.) The balance of the sentence of two years’ probation conditioned on a five-month period of imprisonment was not challenged on appeal and should be affirmed subject only to the modification of the fine imposed as noted above.