Summary
holding there was sufficient evidence to support conviction under NRS 453.321 for the sale of heroin where "[a]n expert witness identified the substance in the balloon as heroin"
Summary of this case from Figueroa-Beltran v. United StatesOpinion
No. 10040
August 9, 1978
Appeal from judgment of the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; J. Charles Thompson, Judge.
Morgan D. Harris, Public Defender, and John H. Howard, Deputy Public Defender, Clark County, for Appellant.
Robert List, Attorney General, Carson City; George E. Holt, District Attorney, and H. Leon Simon, Chief Appellate Deputy, Clark County, for Respondent.
OPINION
Appellant was convicted by a jury of the sale of a controlled substance (heroin), in violation of NRS 453.161 and 453.321, and subsequently sentenced to a term of fifteen years in Nevada State Prison, with credit for time served. His only contention on this appeal is that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support his conviction.
This contention is without merit. Two undercover police officers testified that appellant offered to sell them some "junk", which they understood to mean heroin. Each further testified that after negotiating a price, appellant left, then returned with a red balloon. Upon ascertaining that the material inside appeared to be heroin, the officers gave appellant money in exchange for the balloon. They then placed appellant under arrest. An expert witness identified the substance in the balloon as heroin.
While appellant and his companion gave a different version of these events at trial, the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence is solely within the province of the jury. So long as the verdict is supported by substantial evidence in the record, it will not be disturbed on appeal. Azbill v. State, 88 Nev. 240, 495 P.2d 1064 (1972); Sanders v. State, 90 Nev. 433, 529 P.2d 206 (1974); Wheeler v. State, 91 Nev. 119, 531 P.2d 1358 (1975); Wise v. State, 92 Nev. 181, 547 P.2d 314 (1976).