Johnson v. State

A jury found appellant, Ricardo Johnson (“Johnson”), guilty of trafficking in hydro-codone in violation of section 893.135(l)(c)l, Florida Statutes (Supp. 1996), and petit theft. He appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal on the traffickihg charge, as well as the 25-year minimum mandatory prison sentence. We affirm on both issues, and discuss only the first.

Johnson was employed as a pharmacy technician with Eckerd Drugs. An investigator watching the in-store video monitor saw Johnson take a bottle of Vicodin from the pharmacy. When Johnson exited the store,…