Court Opinion

ID: 9579460
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:55:26.421866+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:31.528591
License: Public Domain

T. M. Burns, J.
(dissenting). The majority state: "[0]nce the people have made a prima facie showing of delivery in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, the defendant in order to meet his burden of showing a statutory exemption or exception must put in some competent evidence that the substance he delivered falls within one of the exempt categories.” I would hold that an essential part of the prima facie showing of a violation is to identify exactly the substance delivered. The people did not do so in this case.
The defendant should not be required to come forward with proof under MCLA 335.356; MSA 18.1070(56) until the substance delivered has been *517specifically identified. See, People v Dean, 74 Mich App 19; 253 NW2d 344 (1977). The resources needed for precise identification are more readily available to the state than the individual. When an individual’s liberty is at stake, the state must utilize those resources.
In this case, the people’s expert testified that the tablets delivered by defendant contained a salt of amphetamine, without specifically identifying which of the hundreds of possible salts it might have been. This testimony was given only after the defendant’s expert testimony had established that the tablets could not have been amphetamine because that substance occurs only as a liquid or an oil.
The case should be remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine the exact identity of the substance delivered and its exempt or nonexempt status.