The State Need Not Always Present Evidence of Scientific Testing of Suspected Narcotics to Survive a Sufficiency Challenge

State v. Gruber, Minn.Ct.App., 6/8/2015.  The Washington County Sheriff's Office maintains a locked depository box into which members of the public can dispose of unused drugs.  Deputy Gruber (one supposes former deputy?) got caught on camera pilfering some of these drugs. Among other crimes the state charged him with unlawful possession of "legend drugs." Minn.Stat. 151.01, subd. 17. "Legend drugs" are medications that require a prescription under federal law.  A jury convicted him of this offense, as well as the offense of official misconduct.

Among the claims that Mr. Gruber made on appeal was that the state failed to submit sufficient evidence that the medications he removed from the lock box were actually "legend drugs".  Mr. Gruber said that this is because the state did not offer any evidence of chemical testing of those drugs.  The court of appeals rejected this assertion, citing to past cases in which the supreme court had said that scientific testing was not always required.  The most recent one was State v. Olhausen, 681 N.W.2d 21 (Minn. 2004).  In that case, the court had upheld a conviction for possession of methamphetamine even though the state only presented testimony from an undercover buyer who said that he knew what methamphetamine packaging looked like and what he'd seen Mr. Olhausen with was such packaging.  From this, and two other cases, the court discerned that:

[F]act finders must consider and weigh the reliability of the state’s chemical-identity evidence in each case; a fact finder can reject as unreliable a proffered method of scientific testing; a fact finder may determine identity of a drug beyond a reasonable doubt based on reliable nonscientific evidence; ...

The court applied these principles and concluded that the state's evidence was sufficient.  Most of the drugs were in prescription bottles or were sealed in the original packaging.  The BCA witness examined the pills inside the containers and then visually matched those pills to pictures of known medications.  Enough said.

Mr. Gruber made some additional complains but the court methodically (and sometimes scornfully) rejects them.  Most had to do with the official misconduct charge.