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Statev.Nankervis

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S14A0513
DecidedJune 30, 2014
Reporter295 Ga. 406, 761 S.E.2d 1
JudgesJustice Hunstein authored the opinion; all Justices concurred
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawCriminal ProcedureStatutory InterpretationDue ProcessEqual ProtectionSentencingSufficiency of the EvidenceReversalRemand
Case Summary

A Columbia County jury convicted Thomas Nankervis of methamphetamine trafficking, failure to maintain lane, and violating the open-container law. After the verdict, the trial court held Georgia’s methamphetamine-trafficking statute unconstitutional and sentenced Nankervis under the less severe general manufacturing statute, reasoning that the statutes punished identical conduct and that the rule of lenity applied. The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed. It held that the trafficking statute’s substantial-assistance provision did not violate substantive due process or equal protection because rewarding information that helps disrupt drug networks is rationally related to a legitimate governmental objective. The Court also held that the specific trafficking statute controlled over the general manufacturing statute, so the rule of lenity was not implicated. The evidence—including chemicals, equipment, and methamphetamine found during a traffic stop—was sufficient to support the trafficking conviction. The Court nevertheless vacated the judgment and sentence on the trafficking count because the trial court had entered judgment under the wrong statute, directing entry of the proper trafficking judgment and sentence. It also vacated the open-container sentence because the fine exceeded the statutory cap and remanded for resentencing. The judgment was affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded; all Justices concurred.

Opinion

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