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ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Kathleen A. Young Kokomo, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Steve Carter Attorney General of Indiana Joby Jerrells Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

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In the

Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 34S02-0502-CR-58 AARON REEMER, Appellant (Defendant below), v. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee (Plaintiff below). _________________________________ Appeal from the Howard Superior Court, No. 34D01-0310-FB-367 The Honorable Michael P. Krebes, Judge _________________________________ On Petition To Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 34A02-0406-CR-463 _________________________________ October 25, 2005 Boehm, Justice. We hold that expert witnesses or laboratory results are not required to prove the composition of an over-the-counter or prescription drug when it is found in an unaltered state and its weight and contents are described in the required labeling. Facts and Procedural History Over-the-counter cold and allergy tablets containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine are a principal source of chemicals used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. For that reason,

in recent years retailers have been requested to report any customers who purchase quantities of products containing those compounds. 1 In October 2003, Kurt Heibler, a Loss Prevention

Detective employed by Meijer, a major retailer, gave Kokomo Police Detective Bruce Rood video surveillance tapes which showed Aaron Reemer purchasing two or three boxes of generic nasal decongestant. A few hours later Heibler learned that Reemer had returned to the store with a companion, and the two men had purchased multiple boxes of the same product in separate transactions using self-checkout terminals. Heibler called Detective Rood, and Rood in turn contacted Captain Michael Holsapple. Heibler and two other Meijer's employees followed Reemer and his companion out of the store and observed them enter a silver Grand Am where a third person had been waiting. Before the Grand Am left the parking lot, Holsapple and Rood arrived at Meijer in separate vehicles. Reemer and the others eventually left the Meijer parking lot in the Grand Am and pulled into the adjacent Meijer gas station where Rood and Holsapple observed one of the passengers exit the car and deposit "something" into the trashcan. After the car left, Holsapple found the only contents of the trashcan were a receipt and several empty nasal decongestant boxes. When the Grand Am left the store, Rood followed it until it stopped at another gas station. Holsapple shortly arrived at the station, and he and Rood approached the Grand Am, identified themselves as police officers, and searched the vehicle where they found twenty-four "blister packs" containing a total of 576 tablets. The state charged Reemer with conspiracy to commit dealing in methamphetamine, as a Class B felony, and possession of a precursor, a Class D felony. The court in a bench trial acquitted Reemer of the conspiracy charge but found him guilty of possessing a precursor. To sustain a conviction for possession of a single methamphetamine precursor, under the version of the statute in place at the time, the state had to prove that the defendant possessed "more than ten (10) grams of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine, the salts, isomers or salts of isomers" of these compounds. I.C.

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