State v. Loveless
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The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeals in this criminal case and vacated both of Defendant's convictions for two marijuana-related fifth-degree controlled substance offenses, holding that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions.
One of Defendant's convictions was based on Defendant's alleged possession of approximately three pounds of plant material that the State asserted was marijuana, and the other conviction was based on Defendant's alleged possession with intent to sell one or more vaporizer cartridges filled with a liquid mixture containing THC. The court of appeals (1) reversed Defendant's conviction for possession of the plant material on the grounds that a 2019 amendment to the definition of marijuana in Minn. Stat. 152.01, subd. 9 explicitly excluded "hemp"; and (2) upheld Defendant's second conviction. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the court of appeals (1) properly held that the State did not present sufficient evidence to prove that the plant material possessed by Defendant was marijuana as defined by the amended statute; but (2) erred in concluding that the State presented sufficient evidence to prove that the liquid mixture in the vaporizer cartridges was a prohibited schedule I controlled substance.
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