State v. Campbell, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Jun. 2, 2020)

In this trafficking of methamphetamine case, substantial evidence showed that the defendant believed the white substance handed to him during a controlled drug sale was fake, rather than an impure mixture containing methamphetamine, and therefore there was insufficient evidence that the defendant knowingly possessed the methamphetamine.  At a controlled drug sale arranged by law enforcement with the help of an informant, the defendant stated his belief that the substance presented to him as methamphetamine was, contrary to his expectations, “re-rock,” a term that was defined by the State’s witnesses to describe “fake” drugs.  In fact, the substance was a mixture of 1 gram of methamphetamine and at least 28 grams of a cutting agent.  As the defendant and an associate inspected the substance, law enforcement officers entered the room and arrested them.  Finding the case to be controlled by State v. Wheeler, 138 N.C. App. 163 (2000), the court explained that when there is no evidence that a person intends to continue a drug transaction because he or she believes the drugs are fake, handling the drugs for the sole purpose of inspection does not constitute possession.

Judge Berger dissented and expressed his view that there was sufficient evidence that the defendant knowingly possessed the methamphetamine because of his previous dealings in methamphetamine with the informant and because the defendant’s use of the term “re-rock” may have been a reference to impure, rather than fake, methamphetamine.  Judge Berger also distinguished Wheeler on the grounds that the defendant in this case did not affirmatively reject the methamphetamine mixture.