State v. Yurco, 07caa040019 (12-18-2007)
State v. Yurco, 07caa040019 (12-18-2007)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 3} Appellant was subsequently indicted on the charges of drug abuse, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 4} On August 11, 2005, Appellant appeared in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas on the charge of drug paraphernalia and entered a plea of guilty to a lesser included charge. Appellant then moved the trial court to dismiss the charge of drug abuse, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 5} On February 27, 2007, Appellant entered a plea of no contest to the drug abuse charge, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 6} Appellant now appeals, assigning as error:
{¶ 7} "I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FOUND THAT DRUG ABUSE AND DRUG PARAPHERNALIA WERE NOT ALLIED OFFENCES [SIC] OF SIMILAR IMPORT AND OVERRULED APPELLANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS."
{¶ 8} In his sole assignment of error, Appellant argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss as the charges of drug abuse and drug paraphernalia are allied offenses of similar import.
{¶ 9} As set forth above, Appellant was charged with drug abuse, in violation of R.C.
{¶ 10} Ohio Revised Code Section
{¶ 11} (A) No person shall knowingly obtain, possess, or use a controlled substance.
{¶ 12} Section
{¶ 13} "(A) As used in this section, "drug paraphernalia" means any equipment, product, or material of any kind that is used by the offender, intended by the offender for use, or designed for use, in propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body, a controlled substance in violation of this chapter. "Drug paraphernalia" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following equipment, products, or materials that are used by the offender, intended by the offender for use, or designed by the offender for use, in any of the following manners: *Page 4
{¶ 14} * * *
{¶ 15} "(13) An object, instrument, or device for ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body, marihuana, cocaine, hashish, or hashish oil, such as a metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or ceramic pipe, with or without a screen, permanent screen, hashish head, or punctured metal bowl; water pipe; carburetion tube or device; smoking or carburetion mask; roach clip or similar object used to hold burning material, such as a marihuana cigarette, that has become too small or too short to be held in the hand; miniature cocaine spoon, or cocaine vial; chamber pipe; carburetor pipe; electric pipe; air driver pipe; chillum; bong; or ice pipe or chiller.
{¶ 16} * * *
{¶ 17} "(C)(1) No person shall knowingly use, or possess with purpose to use, drug paraphernalia."
{¶ 18} In State v. Ranee (1999),
{¶ 19} "The applicable test for deciding that issue is as follows: If the elements of the crimes correspond to such a degree that the commission of one crime will result in the commission of the other, the crimes are allied offenses of similar import.' Id. at 13, 676 N.E.2d at 81, quoting Blankenship,
{¶ 20} * * * *Page 5
{¶ 21} "Courts should assess, by aligning the elements of each crime in the abstract, whether the statutory elements of the crimes "correspond to such a degree that the commission of one crime will result in the commission of the other." Jones,
{¶ 22} Upon review of the statutes for which Appellant was charged, the crime of drug abuse requires the presence of a controlled substances, which is not an element of the drug paraphernalia offense. Each of the crimes requires an element the other does not; therefore, the charges of drug paraphernalia and drug abuse are not allied offenses of similar import. See State v. Eppinger,
{¶ 23} Appellant's conviction for drug abuse in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
*Page 7By: Hoffman, P.J. Wise, J. and Delaney, J. concur
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.