State v. Simmons

DAVIS, Judge.

The issue in this case is whether the trial court erred by allowing the State at the beginning of trial to amend the indictment charging the defendant with trafficking in heroin and instead charge him with trafficking in opiates. Stacy Allen Simmons ("Defendant") appeals from his convictions for possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, trafficking in opiates by transportation, and trafficking in opiates by possession. Because we conclude that the State's actions constituted a substantial alteration of the indictment that is not permitted under our law, we vacate…