State v. Brown

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the aggravating factors that elevated Defendants’ crime from Class B trafficking in schedule drugs to Class A aggravated trafficking in schedule W drugs, holding that there was insufficient evidence to convict Defendant of all four counts.The State charged Defendant with four counts of Class A aggravated trafficking in schedule W drugs. The jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts. On appeal, Defendant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the aggravating elements of Defendant’s convictions and remanded for resentencing on four counts of trafficking in schedule W drugs, holding (1) Me. Rev. Stat. 17-A, 1105-A(1)(E) requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the locus of the drug trafficker at the time of the offense be within 1,000 feet of the real property of a school, measured in a straight line and accounting for any difference in elevation between the two points; and (2) there was insufficient evidence that Defendant trafficked within 1,000 feet of a school. View "State v. Brown" on Justia Law