Court Opinion

ID: 9729263
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:30:13.435932+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:56.366278
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE HOURIHANE concurring in part and dissenting in part: I concur with the majority that the evidence established defendant’s guilt of possession of a controlled substance, with intent to deliver, beyond a reasonable doubt. However, I disagree with the majority that the plain and unambiguous language of section 401(a)(2)(D) of the Controlled Substances Act (Act) requires that the weight of the wine be included in determining the weight of “any substance containing cocaine” for purposes of the graduated sentencing scheme. The manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance generally includes three identifiable elements: (1) the drug, itself, in its raw or pure form; (2) the cutting agents or filler substances mixed or merged with the drug to make it ready for distribution and consumption; and (3) the transport and packaging media. I am unaware of any Illinois case in which the weight calculation of the substance containing the drug has included the weight of those materials and substances used in the transport and packaging of the drug. Further, I read our supreme court’s decision in People v. Mayberry, 63 Ill. 2d 1, 345 N.E.2d 97 (1976), as implicitly recognizing a market-oriented approach. In upholding the constitutionality of the sentencing classifications under the Act, the Mayberry court determined that classifications based on the manner in which the drug is marketed are not irrational and are a reasonable basis for distinction in the sentencing provisions. I would thus apply the Act in the case at bar consistent with the Mayberry opinion and focus on the manner in which the cocaine here was intended for market. Significantly, the State offered no evidence that the wine was anything other than a means of masking the cocaine during shipment, or that the wine was intended to be marketed and consumed with the cocaine as a mix. While the bottled wine is not the typical container for moving cocaine, I see no basis for distinguishing between it and the more usual transport media. See United States v. Acosta, 963 F.2d 551 (2d Cir. 1992) (excluding weight of cream liqueur, used to mask cocaine during shipment but not intended to be ingested with the drug); United States v. Bristol, 964 F.2d 1088 (11th Cir. 1992) (excluding weight of wine, where wine was transport medium only and wine/ cocaine mixture was not ready for consumption by ultimate user). The majority rejects the market-oriented approach based on the plain language of the statute. However, the majority’s plain-language interpretation has the disturbing potential for greatly disparate sentences for possession of the same amount of a usable drug, depending on the manner in which it is packaged for shipment. In construing a statute, courts must consider not only the form of the statute, but the consequences of construing it one way or another. Castaneda v. Illinois Human Rights Comm’n, 132 Ill. 2d 304, 325, 547 N.E.2d 437, 447 (1989). In so doing, courts will assume that the legislature did not intend to produce an unjust result. People v. Bole, 155 Ill. 2d 188, 195, 613 N.E.2d 740, 743 (1993). I believe the majority’s interpretation does not satisfy these fundamental requirements of statutory construction. See United States v. Rolande-Gabriel, 938 F.2d 1231 (11th Cir. 1991) (excluding weight of liquid carrier mediums with which cocaine is mixed to avoid unjust sentencing results). Accordingly, I dissent.