State v. Teasley

In State v. Teasley, 82 N.C. App. 150, 346 S.E.2d 227 (1986), the Court was presented with nearly identical facts as those before us. In Teasley, law enforcement found a bag of a white powder believed to be cocaine. On a table, twelve to eighteen inches away, the officer found about two grams of powder also believed to be cocaine. No field tests were performed. The officer added the powder on the table to the larger bag. An SBI chemist testified that the mixture was 5-65% cocaine and acknowledged that his testing could not determine conclusively that both the large bag of powder and the powder on the table contained cocaine prior to the mixture. The defendant argued that the larger amount could have been a non-controlled substance. The Teasley Court held: While we do not commend such a practice by law enforcement officers, and while defendant's arguments are not without substance, we believe that pursuant to Hayes and its progeny our Supreme Court would hold that on the evidence presented it was for the jury to decide whether defendant possessed a mixture of cocaine weighing more than 200 grams but less than 400 grams. Teasley, 82 N.C. App. at 162-63, 346 S.E.2d at 234.