People v. Santana

Opinion by

Judge GABRIEL.

Defendant, Gonzalo Dalimiro Santana, was convicted by a jury of distribution of a controlled substance and was sentenced to four years of probation. We hold that the prose-ecution improperly suggested to the jury that defendant had an obligation to test the drugs at issue to determine whether they were crack cocaine, and thus placed a burden of proof on defendant. Because we cannot conclude that this suggestion was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt on the facts of this case, we reverse defendant's conviction and remand for a new trial.

I. Background

On January 10, 2007,…