A good legal case on several levels.
Hi guys, I have not been around for a while. I have not forgotten about you, but I am a mod on triedia, so i spend most of my time there. If they made me a mod here, i would spend my time here, but oh well:) anyway, as I promised here is another case regarding steroids. Enjoy and stay safe.
This case involved the Court of Military Justice, but that court operates for the most part as any other courtroom. What i found interesting is that this guys books the Steroid Bible, Anaboilcs 200, etc were seized and probably used as evidence against him at his trial. So you should be careful what you have laying around the house when the Feds come knocking.
Oh as an aside, the nice thing about steroid cases is that I have seen a few people get off because the state failed to prove the substance was actually a steroid! So if you are ever busted make damn sure your attorney checks on whether the stuff was tested and proved positive for an anabolic.
Here is the case, enjoy!
Sentence adjudged 25 February 1994. Military Judge: E.J. McKay. Review pursuant to Article 66(c), UCMJ, of Special Court-Martial convened by Commanding Officer, Brigade Service Support Group 1, 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Fleet Marine Force, Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, HI.
Maj HAGEN W. FRANK, USMC, Appellate Defense Counsel
LT JAMES T. MAHONEY, JAGC, USNR, Appellate Defense Counsel
LT ROBIN W. SARDEGNA, JAGC, USNR, Appellate Government Counsel
AS AN UNPUBLISHED DECISION, THIS OPINION DOES NOT SERVE AS PRECEDENT.
PER CURIAM.
*1 We have examined the record of trial, the assignments of error, [FN1] and the Government's response thereto, and we have concluded that the findings and sentence are correct in law and fact and that no error materially prejudicial to the substantial rights of appellant was committed. We comment briefly below.
FN1. I. THE EVIDENCE IS LEGALLY INSUFFICIENT AS TO CHARGE I WHERE THE GOVERNMENT FAILED TO PRESENT ANY EVIDENCE THAT THE SUBSTANCE APPELLANT PURPORTEDLY ATTEMPTED TO USE, DIANABOL, CONTAINS A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.
II. THE MILITARY JUDGE ABUSED HIS DISCRETION WHERE HE ADMITTED AS EXPERT OPINION THE TESTIMONY OF BENJAMIN SHEU THAT S-250 CONTAINS A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE AND WHERE HE ADMITTED THE CONTENTS OF A REFERENCE BOOK AS A LEARNED TREATISE UNDER M.R.E. 803(18) WITHOUT AN ADEQUATE FOUNDATION.
This case involves conviction for the distribution and attempted use of anabolic steroids for human body-building purposes. Additionally, the appellant was convicted of larceny of Government syringes and hypodermic needles.
We are convinced of the appellant's guilt legally and factually beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Turner, 25 M.J. 324 (C.M.A.1987); see also United States v. Maio, 34 M.J. 215 (C.M.A.1992); United States v. McCastle, 40 M.J. 763 (A.F.C.M.R.1994)(holding that evidence corroborating a confession must raise only an inference of the truth as to essential facts admitted).
Specifically addressing Assignment of Error I, we note that the appellant admitted to purchasing a "small vial" of what he thought was an injectable anabolic steroid from the same person who had supplied him with the anabolic steroid that he distributed to others, the object of Charge II. Prosecution Ex. 7 at 3. The appellant admitted to injecting what he thought was anabolic steroid into his own body, using syringes he took from work, the object of Charge III. Id. The record establishes that the appellant was a committed body-builder, had publications seized at his home titled: The Underground Steroid Handbook, The Anabolic Reference Guide, and Anabolic Steroids and Bodybuilding, and had supplied stolen syringes and anabolic steroids to others.
Additionally, unlike the anabolic steroids the appellant supplied to others, which were prepacked in syringes, [FN2] the anabolic steroid he thought he was injecting came in a "small vile [sic]." Id. The testimony of the key cooperating witness in the charges involving use and distribution of anabolic steroids stated that he had seen the appellant in possession of "a small brown vial with a silver top...." Record at 192. The witness testified that the appellant stated that he "thought it was D-ball, but after injecting it, it wasn't. He seen no effects." Record at 193.
FN2. These pre-packed syringes were too large to use on humans, so the drug was injected into a human-use syringe, hence the need for the stolen syringes.
As to Assignment of Error II, in addition to the prosecution having proven the other necessary elements of the offense in Charge II, the testimony of a pharmacist, holding a doctor of pharmacy degree and having 26 years of experience, established that the brand of anabolic steroid distributed by the appellant, Sustanon 250, contained a controlled substance proscribed under Article 112a, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 912a. The pharmacist used an international pharmacopoeia that he had familiarized himself with prior to trial. Record at 204-05. See Mil. R. Evid. 703. Additionally, the pertinent pharmacopoeia excerpt, listing the ingredients of Sustanon 250, was read to the members after the expert had testified that the international pharmacopoeia was a reliable reference source. Record at 204, 206. See Mil. R. Evid. 803(18)(learned treatises). The defense strenuously objected to this testimony and evidence. We find that the military judge did not abuse his discretion in ruling that the testimony and evidence was admissible. United States v. Jenkins, 27 M.J. 209 (C.M.A.1988).
*2 Accordingly, the findings of guilty and the sentence, as approved on review below, are affirmed.
N.M.Ct.Crim.App.,1995.
U.S. v. Coleman
1995 WL 935059 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App.) AS AN UNPUBLISHED DECISION,
