State v. Helton

OPINION

FONES, Justice.

Defendant, Johnny Helton, was found guilty of selling heroin and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the trial judge and remanded the case for a new trial. The State petitioned for and we granted certiorari.

The question presented is the proper interpretation and application of T.C.A. § 52-1432(a)(2), a subsection of the Tennessee Drug Control Act of 1971, wherein the Legislature has prescribed two inferences that “shall” be transmitted to the jury by the trial judge’s charge.

The facts, essentially, are these:

The Chief of…