FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
DONALD C. SWANSON, JR. JEFFREY A. MODISETT
Fort Wayne, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
RANDI E. FROUG
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
KIM T. WATTLEY, )
)
Appellant-Defendant, )
)
vs. ) No. 02A03-9907-CR-277
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
wanted a bill's worth, meaning $100 worth of cocaine. Wattley produced several rocks
of crack cocaine, told the detective he could have seven of them, and then let him choose
seven rocks. At that point, Wattley and the detective planned another transaction, wherein
the detective would buy an eight ball. In the evening of October 13, the detective returned
to Wattley's home and purchased an eight ball of cocaine for $200. Wattley and the
detective discussed whether the amount of cocaine was adequate in relation to the purchase
price. They then discussed a third transaction. The next day, the detective again went to
Wattley's home. He intended to purchase $100 worth of cocaine, but Wattley told him she
had only $85 worth. The detective purchased the cocaine.
These facts reveal that Wattley possessed a knowledge of drug prices and that she
used and understood the terminology related to drug sales. During two of the buys, Wattley
discussed future transactions with the detective. Further, Wattley sold cocaine to the
detective three times within a relatively short time-span. This evidence is sufficient to show
that Wattley was predisposed to deal in cocaine, thus rebutting Wattley's entrapment defense.
increased the charge from a Class B to a Class A felony. Wattley argues that there was
insufficient evidence that the cocaine weighed three grams or more, and thus, her conviction
should have been for a Class B instead of a Class A felony.
When a defendant is charged with a drug offense that is determined by the weight of
the substance involved, the State must prove that the scale used to weigh the substance was
tested before and after its use. Robinson v. State, 634 N.E.2d 1367, 1374 (Ind. Ct. App.
1994). The burden of producing evidence to disprove the accuracy of the scale then shifts
to the defendant. Id.
At trial, the detective testified that following his second transaction with Wattley, he
took the eight ball back to the police station and weighed it on an electronic scale. The
scale indicated that the weight of the cocaine was 3.5 grams. However, the State did not
produce any evidence as to whether the scale had been tested either before or after the drugs
were weighed. The State did attempt to admit a State Police lab report showing that the
cocaine weighed 3.95 grams. However, Wattley objected to the report as hearsay, and the
trial judge admitted it for the limited purpose of showing that the substance was cocaine, a
fact that had been stipulated to by Wattley.See footnote
5
Therefore, the evidence of the weight of the
cocaine contained in that report was not considered by the court, and cannot be considered
on appeal. Because no evidence as to the accuracy of the scale used to weigh the cocaine
was admitted into evidence, we hold that the State failed to produce sufficient evidence to
prove that the cocaine weighed three grams or more. Therefore, we remand with instructions
to reduce Wattley's conviction from a Class A to a Class B felony, and to amend Wattley's
sentence accordingly.
(a) It is a defense that:
(1) the prohibited conduct of the person was the product of a law enforcement
officer, or his agent, using persuasion or other means likely to cause the person to
engage in the conduct; and
(2) the person was not predisposed to commit the offense.
(b) Conduct merely affording a person an opportunity to commit the offense does not
constitute entrapment.