Eating the evidence might yield a stomach ache but it won’t ensure an acquittal. That is the lesson learned from State v. James, a case recently decided by the N.C. Court of Appeals. In James, an officer was patrolling in an unmarked vehicle when the defendant waived her over. As the officer opened her car door, displaying her uniform and badge, the defendant started running, dropping something along the way but ultimately abandoning his flight. After the defendant was secured, officers located the object that the defendant had dropped. One of the officers performed a Narcotics Field Test Kit (NIK test) on the item, which indicated that it was cocaine. The defendant was arrested on drug charges and taken to the police station for processing. While there, the defendant managed to access the seized substance and swallow it. When he was taken to the hospital for treatment, the treating doctor asked the defendant what he had taken or eaten. The defendant responded “that he ate approximately a gram of crack cocaine.” At the hospital, the defendant also asked an officer how he could be charged “since he had ate the crack.” After being treated, the defendant was brought to a magistrate. The defendant asked the magistrate, “How are they charging me with the crack, when I ate it? Or possessing the crack when I ate it?” At the defendant’s trial, one of the officers testified that based on his training and experience, the substance appeared to be crack cocaine. Another testified [...]
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