Court Opinion

ID: 9794427
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:05:32.353417+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:13:32.281624
License: Public Domain

ROBINSON, J.,
concurring and dissenting: I concur with the legal conclusions of the majority that lay testimony and circumstantial evidence may be sufficient without the introduction of an expert chemical analysis to establish the identity of the substance involved in an alleged illegal drug transaction. However, such evidence must prove the identity of the substance beyond a reasonable doubt. I respectfully disagree with the finding of the majority that the evidence was sufficient in this case.
To sustain a criminal conviction, the defendant must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of each element of the crime charged. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 25 L. Ed. 2d 368, 90 S. Ct. 1068 (1970); State v. Flinchpaugh, 232 Kan. 831, 835, 659 P.2d 208 (1983). When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, the standard of appellate review is whether, after reviewing all of the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the reviewing court is convinced that a rational jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Graham, 247 Kan. 388, 398, 799 P.2d 1003 (1990).
Brad Homman of the Dickinson County Sheriffs Office never testified that the substance in issue was marijuana. He was a member of the drug enforcement task force and had special training in drug law enforcement and education. He conducted a field test on the vegetation. However, he never gave an opinion that it was marijuana, nor did he testify as to the results of the field test. The statement that “[Bowley] handed me a plastic bag containing a green vegetation that looked like marijuana” is not evidence that he was of the opinion that it was marijuana.
This is a criminal charge which carries the biggest burden of proof requirement. This burden should not be satisfied by the mere statement of the defendant that it was marijuana he was selling or the statement of the buyer that he wanted to purchase marijuana. A street vendor selling and calling a red flower a rose *457does not make it a rose. The evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as presented in this case, is insufficient to withstand the requirements of appellate review.