State v. Casady

• Decision Date: 08 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-1568.,97-1568.
• Citation: 597 N.W.2d 801
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. David Lee CASADY, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

597 N.W.2d 801

STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. David Lee CASADY, Appellant.

No. 97-1568.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

July 8, 1999.

Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Patricia Reynolds, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Mary Tabor, Assistant Attorney General, Rick L. Lynch, County Attorney, and Paul Zingg and Ron Kelly, Special Prosecutors, for appellee.

Considered by HARRIS, P.J., and LARSON, CARTER, SNELL, and TERNUS, JJ.

LARSON, Justice.

David Casady appeals his conviction for conspiracy to manufacture more than five grams of methamphetamine, a class "B" felony under Iowa Code section 124.401(1)(b)(7) (1997). We affirm.

I. The Facts and Prior Proceedings.

Under the record in this case, the jury could reasonably have found the following facts. Law enforcement officers had maintained surveillance of the Taylor Agri Products Company in Bloomfield, Iowa, because of frequent thefts of anhydrous ammonia during the summer of 1996. Casady worked at Bimco, a company located adjacent to Taylor Agri Products. Law enforcement officers observed Casady's car parked in the Bimco parking lot after hours on several occasions, causing the surveillance team to identify Casady as a suspect in the anhydrous thefts.

Late on the night of February 24, 1997, police officers observed two men, one looking like Casady, at the Taylor site. They observed a vapor cloud rise, indicating an ammonia escape. The men, carrying an object, left in their car without their headlights on, and went to Randy Lockman's house. The officers obtained a search warrant for Lockman's house. Based on this search and other evidence, Byers, Casady, and Lockman were charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Lockman's trial was severed, and Casady and Byers were tried together.

II. The Issues.

On appeal Casady complains (1) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction, (2) the court erred in admitting certain evidence, (3) his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance, and (4) the court erred in judicially noting that d-methamphetamine is "methamphetamine" under Iowa Code section 124.401(1)(b)(7).

III. Sufficiency of the Evidence.

We will uphold a jury verdict under a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge if it is supported by substantial evidence. State v. Chang, 587 N.W.2d 459, 461-62 (Iowa 1998). If a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the evidence is substantial. State v. Thomas, 561 N.W.2d 37, 39 (Iowa 1997). We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, and this includes all legitimate inferences that may fairly and reasonably be deduced from the evidence. Id.

Iowa Code section 124.401(1) provides:

[I]t is unlawful for any person to manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance, a counterfeit substance, or a simulated controlled substance, or to act with, enter into a common scheme or design with, or conspire with one or more other persons to manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, a counterfeit substance, or a simulated controlled substance.

(Emphasis added.) In this case, the State charged Casady with the conspiracy alternative. The penalties for a violation of this section are prescribed by section 124.401(1)(b):

Violation of this subsection, with respect to the following controlled substances, counterfeit substances, or simulated controlled substances is a class "B" felony, and in addition to the provisions of section 902.9, subsection 1, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars, nor more than one hundred thousand dollars:

....

(7) More than five grams but not more than five kilograms of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers, or analogs of methamphetamine, or any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity or detectable amount of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers, or analogs of methamphetamine.

Iowa Code section 706.1 sets out the general law of conspiracy:

1. A person commits conspiracy with another if, with the intent to promote or facilitate the commission of a crime which is an aggravated misdemeanor or felony, the person does either of the following:

a. Agrees with another that they or one or more of them will engage in conduct constituting the crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit the crime.

b. Agrees to aid another in the planning or commission of the crime or of an attempt or solicitation to commit the crime.

....

3. A person shall not be convicted of conspiracy unless it is alleged and proven that at least one conspirator committed an overt act evidencing a design to accomplish the purpose of the conspiracy by criminal means.

The jury was instructed on the general elements of conspiracy.

Under the conspiracy alternative, as charged here, the State was required to prove that Casady agreed with Lockman and/or Byers that they would manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to deliver methamphetamine and that at least one of the conspirators committed an overt act. Casady argues the State produced insufficient evidence of an agreement.

The State did not offer direct evidence of an agreement, but it was not required to do so; it may prove an agreement through circumstantial evidence and "`[a]ll legitimate inferences arising reasonably and fairly from the evidence may be indulged in to support the verdict.'" State v. Mapp, 585 N.W.2d 746, 748 (Iowa 1998) (quoting State v. Ruiz, 496 N.W.2d 789, 792 (Iowa App.1992) (citations omitted)). We have said

[a]n agreement that, because of its purpose or the means contemplated, amounts to a conspiracy need not be formal or express, but may be a tacit understanding; the agreement may be inherent in and inferred from the circumstances, especially declarations, acts, and conduct of the alleged conspirators.

Mapp, 585 N.W.2d at 748 (quoting 16 Am. Jur.2d Conspiracy § 10, at 204-05 (1998) (footnotes omitted)).

There was substantial evidence supporting a finding of an agreement to manufacture methamphetamine. Two witnesses testified Casady watched Lockman crush cold medications and cook a mixture in the microwave, activities that coincide with manufacturing methamphetamine. These witnesses testified that Casady and Byers left Lockman's house shortly before midnight and returned within a half hour, a time frame consistent with the testimony of the surveillance team, which had observed a vehicle pull up to the Taylor Agri Products facility. One of the two men who got out of the car matched Casady's description. Lieutenant Smith saw a vapor cloud indicating anhydrous ammonia was escaping from a tank. Two people ran back to the vehicle, one of them carrying something, and the vehicle left without its headlights on. Captain Sandegren followed the car as it left the Taylor business without losing sight of it. Officer Greg Francisco, who had been watching Lockman's residence, observed a car pull up just after the incident at the Taylor facility. Two men got out and took something from the back seat into Lockman's garage. Officer Francisco did not leave his post until the other officers returned with a search warrant. In the meantime, no other vehicles or persons had left or approached the Lockman residence. When the officers executed the search warrant, they found Casady hiding under a car in Lockman's garage. Damp gloves, smelling strongly of anhydrous ammonia, were found in Casady's pocket. The sheriff's deputy who found the gloves and identified the odor had previously worked at the Taylor site and was familiar with anhydrous ammonia.

The officers also seized baking dishes containing a pink liquid and a white solid mixture, as well as other jars containing melted pill residue. They found lithium batteries with the coating stripped off, empty boxes of cold tablets, a product called Drain Power, and starting fluid. All of these substances were consistent with the manufacture of methamphetamine, according to the evidence.

Investigators also found a two-quart thermos full of anhydrous ammonia behind the Lockman residence. Byers was searched, and the officer found a sales receipt from a local store dated February 24 and showing the purchase of two bottles of Actifed tablets, three bottles of Sudafed tablets, Drain Power, and two packages of lithium batteries.

A narcotics agent testified that the defendants appeared to be engaged in the "Nazi method" of making methamphetamine, in which the anhydrous ammonia is generally obtained at the end of the process because it evaporates quickly. A typical batch produces one to two ounces; one ounce contains 28.35 grams. A criminologist testified that she had tested the substances seized and found they contained d-pseudoephedrine, a precursor or "starter chemical" for methamphetamine.

When the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, we believe it clearly supports the jury's finding of a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and the part Casady played in it.

IV. The Evidentiary Rulings.

Casady challenges three evidence rulings on appeal: (1) admitting a laboratory report from a criminalist from the Division of Criminal Investigation, (2) admitting testimony concerning prior thefts of anhydrous ammonia at the Taylor site and (3) admitting a videotape of the crime scene showing a hand gun in a drawer at Lockman's residence.

A. The laboratory report. A report from the state criminalistics laboratory contained an analysis of the substances found at Lockman's residence. Nila Bremer, who prepared the report, was a witness at the trial. She described the "Nazi" method of manufacturing methamphetamine and concluded 17.3 grams of d-pseudoephedrine, a prechemical to d-methamphetamine, were present. She estimated that skilled operators could produce 15.9 grams of...