United States v. Gaines
United States v. Gaines
Opinion of the Court
In a jury trial Gaines was found guilty of conspiracy to import marihuana in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. §§ 952(a) and 963. We find without merit his contentions that the district court erroneously failed to give cautionary instructions with respect to hearsay testimony and that there was insufficient evidence to take the case to the jury. Gaines further urges that it was error for the trial court to refuse to instruct
Noting that the federal statutory definition of marihuana
The Third Circuit recently considered the issue raised by Gaines and concluded that Cannabis indica is included within the statutory definition of marihuana. United States v. Moore, 3 Cir. 1971, 446 F.2d 448. Similarly, the Second Circuit, while recognizing the possibility that there may be some botanical opinion that Cannabis is polytypal, found that
there is no question but that the lawmakers, the general public and overwhelming scientific opinion considered that there was only one species of marihuana . . . Whether this is scientifically exact or not, the statute provided at the time of the offense a sufficient description of what was intended to be prohibited to give notice to all of the illegality of appellant’s actions.
United States v. Rothberg, 2 Cir. 1973, 480 F.2d 534, 536.
We are in full agreement with what has been said by our sister Circuits, and. thus find no error in the district court’s refusal to instruct the jury with respect to the statutory definition of marihuana.
Affirmed.
. 21 U.S.C.A. § 802(15) provides in relevant part:
“The term ‘marihuana’ means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not. , . . ”
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Richard GAINES
- Cited By
- 36 cases
- Status
- Published