NCJ Number
210456
Journal
Forensic Magazine Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: June/July 2005 Pages: 17-19
Date Published
June 2005
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article addresses the legal challenges facing prosecutors in proving beyond a reasonable doubt the weight of an illegal substance, which determines degrees of offenses in narcotics cases and consequently the severity of sentencing for a convicted defendant.
Abstract
It is the responsibility of the forensic scientist who has established the weight of the substance at issue to convince the court beyond a reasonable doubt that the procedure used to measure the weight is consistently accurate. This article presents a hypothetical case of the questions likely to be posed by a defense attorney to a forensic scientist testifying in court about how the weight of an illegal substance was determined. This hypothetical case is presented under the relevant laws of New Jersey, which sets the possession of 5g or more of hashish as the measure for charging the defendant as a drug dealer. Possession of less than 5g is a lesser offense of possession for personal use. In the hypothetical case, the forensic laboratory has determined that the weight of the hashish at issue is 5.0020g plus or minus 0.0014g. The defense attorney, in an effort to get the case heard in a lower court, is questioning the forensic scientist who weighed the hashish about the procedure used. This article poses the questions asked by the defense attorney and the answers given by the forensic scientist. 1 figure