Court Opinion

ID: 9640693
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:12:25.600597+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:32.150656
License: Public Domain

O’CONNOR, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. I have nothing to add to this opinion about the law, having dissented in similar cases already. I refer the reader to those dissents. Mayes v. State, 831 S.W.2d 5, 7 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, no pet.); Jarrett v. State, 818 S.W.2d 847, 849 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1991, no pet.);
The facts of this ease, however, impose a new twist on possession of trace amounts of *632cocaine. In most of the cases heard by our court, the trace amount of cocaine is found inside some item of drug paraphernalia, most often a glass tube that is used to smoke the crack cocaine. See, e.g., Mayes, 831 S.W.2d at 6; Jarrett, 818 S.W.2d at 848. In other cases, the trace amount of cocaine is found inside a clear plastic bag, often used to sell and carry the crack cocaine.
Here, the trace amount of cocaine, 0.33 milligrams, was found inside a small plastic candy tube that was pink (not clear, like containers in many other trace cases). The officer described the tube as between one-half to two inches long, and about a quarter to one-half inch wide. The chemist testified that .33 milligrams of cocaine would appear in size to be about two grains of sugar. If the appellant had looked inside the tube and had seen a white powder, it would have been consistent with the original use of the tube.
The officers who made the arrest testified:
Q: (defense counsel) So, what you’re saying is that he may not have remembered it [the plastic tube] and, therefore, did not throw it away [before the arrest]?
A: That’s correct. Or he may not have known that I was there to arrest him, and he didn’t feel threatened. He may have thought the tube was empty and he had no problems even if he did get searched.
(Emphasis added.)
Thus, even the police officer thought it was possible the appellant did not have the requisite intent to possess a controlled substance.
I would sustain point of error one and reverse and render.