Court Opinion

ID: 9625303
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:35:44.299931+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:23:14.880184
License: Public Domain

Pannell, Presiding Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur in the judgment of affirmance; however, I disagree with the majority’s holding that the amount of illegal substance possessed is immaterial. Although this question has never been decided in Georgia, other states *328have considered the problem and have established varying rules.
"California requires the quantity to be sufficient for the drug’s common use, People v. Leal (1966), 64 Cal.2d 504, 50 Cal.Rptr. 777, 413 P.2d 665. Texas has adopted a similar rule, Greer v. State (1956), 163 Tex. C.R. 377, 292 S.W.2d 122. The majority of the states that have passed on the question have held that the quantity possessed is immaterial. State v. Dodd (1965), 28 Wis.2d 643, 137 N.W.2d 465; Schenher v. State (1956), 38 Ala. App. 573, 90 So.2d 234; Mickens v. People (1961), 148 Colo. 237, 365 P.2d 679; People v. Morman (1962), 24 Ill.2d 403, 182 N.E.2d 188; State v. McDonald (1966), 92 N.J. Super.448, 224 A.2d 18; State v. Young (Mo.1968), 427 S.W.2d 510; Haley v. State (1969), 7 Md. App. 18, 253 A.2d 424.” People v. Harrington, 33 Mich. App. 548 (190 N.W.2d 343).
The Michigan Court of Appeals adopted what it termed a "compromise between the minority and majority views.” The court reasoned as follows: "It is our judgment that the minority view may restrict efficient law enforcement; a quantity of narcotics sufficient for its common use is not necessarily a concomitant of illegal possession. On the other hand, the majority view that the quantity possessed is immaterial is so broad a view that it may tend to encourage infringement of individual rights. It is our judgment that a reasonable compromise between the minority and majority views has been proposed in the article 'Drugs and the Criminal Law’, 12 Crim. Law Quarterly 254 (July 1970). Arthur C. Whealy there suggests that the facts and circumstances in each case be viewed to determine if it can be reasonably inferred that the quantity of narcotic actually discovered is but a remnant of a larger, usable amount. If that inference can be made, illegal possession is established.” (Emphasis supplied.) People v. Harrington, supra.
It is my judgment that the Michigan rule is the better rule and should be adopted by this court. This rule establishes a guideline by which the jury can determine if the defendant’s possession is intentional, as opposed to an unknowing possession.
Application of this rule to the present case would *329result in an affirmance of the guilty verdict. The facts and circumstances surrounding the possession of the cocaine would have authorized a finding that the traces were but a remnant of a larger, usable amount. Accordingly, there was no error in the court’s failing to rule as a matter of law that there was an insufficient amount of the alleged drug to convict the defendant.