State v. Sowell

This criminal appeal addresses the limits of the use of expert testimony at drug trials. The case involves a simple factual allegation about a visit to an inmate at a state prison. At trial, the State presented proof that the visitor handed an object to the inmate, who placed it in a bag of potato chips. To divert attention, the inmate appeared to kiss the visitor during the transfer. Minutes later, officers searched the bag of chips and found heroin in it.

Both the inmate and the visitor were later charged with narcotics offenses. In his defense at trial, the inmate disputed the facts and…