Conviction of PCP Manufacturing in California

In People v. Jenkins (1979) 91 Cal.App.3d 579, the defendant was convicted of manufacturing PCP and possessing piperidine and cyclohexanone with the intent to manufacture PCP. The only evidence linking the defendant to these charged crimes was the presence of his fingerprints on three containers found inside a garage used for the manufacturing of PCP. The garage belonged to the defendant's brother and none of the containers with the defendant's prints contained PCP, piperidine, or cyclohexanone. (Id. at p. 582.) Under these facts, the Court of Appeal reasoned that "the only fact directly inferable from the presence of the fingerprints is that sometime, somewhere defendant touched the containers." (Id. at p. 584.)