Cooper v. State
Decision Date | 01 March 1983 |
Docket Number | No. 211-82,211-82 |
Citation | 648 S.W.2d 315 |
Parties | Carlotta Marie COOPER, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Douglas R. Larson, Dallas, for appellant.
Henry Wade, Dist. Atty., Karen Chilton Beverly, Rick Russell and Michael Gillett, Asst. Dist. Attys., Dallas, Robert Huttash, State's Atty. and Alfred Walker, Asst., State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
Before the court en banc.
OPINION ON APPELLANT'S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW
The Dallas Court of Appeals affirmed appellant's conviction for possession of marihuana wherein the trial court assessed punishment at thirty days in jail, probated, and a fine of $150.00, Cooper v. State, 629 S.W.2d 69. We granted appellant's petition for discretionary review to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in its determination that the evidence was sufficient to show appellant possessed a usable quantity of marihuana.
At trial, Officer Stevens was the only witness. He testified that when he arrested appellant he discovered a plastic bag containing a green, leafy substance which in his opinion was marihuana, and that the bag also contained two marihuana cigarettes. The substance of that testimony is set forth below:
The only other testimony in the record as to the amount of substance found on appellant was that it was less than two ounces.
Clearly, this Court may take judicial notice that a certain amount of marihuana is a usable quantity. Carmouche v. State, 540 S.W.2d 701 (Tex.Cr.App.1976); Lejeune v. State, 538 S.W.2d 775 (Tex.Cr.App.1976). Assuming, without deciding, that Officer Stevens was qualified to express an opinion that the loose leafy substance seen in the plastic bag was marihuana, we cannot say that his testimony that the cigarettes were marihuana is sufficient. A reading of...
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Williams v. State, No. 01-08-00936-CR (Tex. App. 6/3/2010)
...whether there was a usable quantity of marijuana. In support of his sufficiency argument, appellant relies on Cooper v. State, 648 S.W.2d 315, 316 (Tex. Crim. App. 1983). In Cooper, an officer discovered a baggie containing loose marijuana and cigarettes, and the officer testified that he a......
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State v. Reyes
...denied, 449 U.S. 873, 101 S.Ct. 213, 66 L.Ed.2d 93 (1982). Also see State v. Thomas, 737 S.W.2d 247 (Mo.App.1987); Cooper v. State, 648 S.W.2d 315 (Tex.Cr.App.1983). ...
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State v. Perez
...through such witness that the amount of marihuana involved is a 'usable quantity.'Lejeune, 538 S.W.2d at 780; cf. Cooper v. State, 648 S.W.2d 315, 316 (Tex.Crim.App.1983)(holding evidence insufficient to support conviction for possession of marijuana where evidence did not show amount posse......
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A.A. v. State
...testimony as to identity of substance as marijuana is sufficient to establish identity of contraband), rev'd on other grounds, 648 S.W.2d 315 (Tex.Crim.App.1983); Davenport v. State, 510 P.2d 988 (Okla.Crim.App.1973) (testimony of officer trained in narcotics that substance is marijuana is ......