State v. Escobar, No. 25196.
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
| Writing for the Court | LANSING. |
| Citation | 134 Idaho 387,3 P.3d 65 |
| Docket Number | No. 25196. |
| Decision Date | 03 May 2000 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Juan M. ESCOBAR, Defendant-Appellant. |
3 P.3d 65
134 Idaho 387
v.
Juan M. ESCOBAR, Defendant-Appellant
No. 25196.
Court of Appeals of Idaho.
May 3, 2000.
Review Denied June 27, 2000.
Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Karen A. Hudelson, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent.
LANSING, Judge.
Juan Escobar asks this Court to vacate his judgment of conviction for trafficking in methamphetamine, Idaho Code § 37-2732B. Escobar asserts that the district court erred in its interpretation of § 37-2732B with respect to the requisite proof of the quantity of drugs sold or delivered.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In a tape-recorded telephone conversation, Escobar represented to a confidential informant that he would sell to the informant one ounce, which equates to 28.35 grams, of methamphetamine. The following day, Escobar completed the transaction, but delivered only 24.266 grams of methamphetamine, not the promised one ounce. Escobar was subsequently arrested and admitted to law enforcement officers that he sold the informant one ounce of methamphetamine. Before trial, Escobar moved for dismissal of the trafficking charge on the ground that the amount of methamphetamine that he delivered was less than twenty-eight grams, which is the minimum amount required for commission of the offense of trafficking in methamphetamine under I.C. § 37-2732B(a)(3). The district court denied the motion. Thereafter, a jury found Escobar guilty of the charged offense, and the district court imposed a unified fifteen-year sentence with a five-year determinate term. Escobar appeals, asserting that the district court erred in allowing him to be prosecuted and convicted for trafficking in methamphetamine when the actual amount of narcotics sold was less than the statutorily required twenty-eight grams.
ANALYSIS
Escobar was prosecuted under I.C. § 37-2732B(a)(3) (1995) (amended July 1, 1998 and 1999),1 which provided in part:
Any person who knowingly manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, twenty-eight (28) grams or more of methamphetamine or of any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in methamphetamine."
His appeal turns upon another subsection of that...
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State of Idaho v. KEY, No. 35955.
...(1999); State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999); Stevens, 139 Idaho at 675, 84 P.3d at 1043; State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). Idaho Code § 37-2809 provides that: In issuing any order under the provisions of this chapter, the court sh......
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State v. Gillespie, Nos. 39426
...written, without engaging in statutory construction. State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999); State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). The words must be given their plain, usual, and ordinary meaning, and the statute must be construed as a w......
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State v. Gillespie, s. 39426
...written, without engaging in statutory construction. State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999) ; State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). The words must be given their plain, usual, and ordinary meaning, and the statute must be construed as a ......
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State v. Roe, No. 29199.
...Rhode, 133 Idaho 459, 462, 988 P.2d 685, 688 (1999); State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999); State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). The language of the statute is to be given its plain, obvious, and rational meaning. Burnight, 132 Idaho a......
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State of Idaho v. KEY, No. 35955.
...(1999); State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999); Stevens, 139 Idaho at 675, 84 P.3d at 1043; State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). Idaho Code § 37-2809 provides that: In issuing any order under the provisions of this chapter, the court sh......
-
State v. Gillespie, Nos. 39426
...written, without engaging in statutory construction. State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999); State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). The words must be given their plain, usual, and ordinary meaning, and the statute must be construed as a w......
-
State v. Gillespie, s. 39426
...written, without engaging in statutory construction. State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999) ; State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). The words must be given their plain, usual, and ordinary meaning, and the statute must be construed as a ......
-
State v. Roe, No. 29199.
...Rhode, 133 Idaho 459, 462, 988 P.2d 685, 688 (1999); State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999); State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). The language of the statute is to be given its plain, obvious, and rational meaning. Burnight, 132 Idaho a......