State v. Maupin

The apparent holding of the court today is that the state may prove that a substance is a drug solely on the basis of the testimony of an expert witness that the substance looked like a drug, even though the police have actual custody of the substance itself and no reason is given why a definite chemical test could not be performed. Such a sweeping dismissal of the need for positive proof is neither warranted by the facts of this case nor is it supported by the authorities cited by the majority. For that reason, and because I believe the defendant was unfairly prejudiced by the state’s…