Court Opinion

ID: 9579978
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:00:35.191483+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:56.503174
License: Public Domain

Judge Hedrick
concurring in the result.
I vote to reverse the conviction of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and to affirm the conviction for manu-turing. I feel constrained, however, to point out that an incongruity is manifest by declaring that it was error to admit evidence of the marijuana growing in the flower bed 55 feet from the back of the trailer and in the garden 145 feet from the back of the trailer and at the same time to admit evidence of the marijuana growing in flower pots 50 feet from the entrance of the trailer (32 feet from the side) and of the “stripped” marijuana stalks near the TV antenna. In my opinion, all of this evidence was admissible under the circumstances of this case, and it was for the jury to determine whether defendant was in possession thereof and was growing it. The majority decision leaves the conviction of the felony of manufacturing supported only by the evidence that marijuana was growing in flower pots on a table, four feet square, near defendant’s residence and that there was stripped marijuana stalks near the TV antenna. If it was error to admit the evidence of the marijuana growing in the flower bed and in the garden, as the majority opinion declares, it appears to me that such an error would be so prejudicial as to entitle defendant to a new trial in the manufacturing case. While I agree that the evidence of manufacturing was sufficient to take the case to the jury even without evidence of the marijuana growing in the *297flower bed and the garden, I am convinced that the admission of this evidence tipped the scales for the State in the minds of the jury. The majority decision precludes the State from prosecuting the defendant for the possession of 215.5 grams of marijuana while it supports the conviction of defendant for having manufactured the same 215.5 grams of marijuana.