State v. Gaddis

OPINION

HENRY, Justice.

We granted certiorari in this case in order to deal with the recurring question of the entitlement of a defendant, in a drug case, to a sample of the contraband drug in order to procure an independent chemical examination and analysis.

I

Defendants were jointly indicted on 9 January 1974 upon a charge of feloniously possessing a controlled substance with intent to sell or deliver. On 29 January 1974, the defendant Davis, pursuant to § 40-2044 T.C.A., moved the Court to “permit the defendant’s counsel to inspect and copy, photographs or, in the alternative, be furnished a…