Page:Jones v. State, 357 Ark. 545 (2004).pdf/11

Rh The statute also requires that the fact-finder determine whether the object is drug paraphernalia under the following factors: (1) statements by an owner or by anyone in control of the object concerning its use; (2) prior convictions, if any, of an owner, or of anyone in control of the object, under any state or federal law relating to any controlled substance; (3) the proximity of the object, in time and space, to a direct violation of the controlled substances act; (4) the proximity of the object to the controlled substances; (5) the existence of any residue of controlled substances on the object; (6) direct or circumstantial evidence of the intent of the owner, or of anyone in control of the object, to deliver it to persons whom he knows, or should reasonably know, intend to use the object to manufacture a controlled substance; (7) instructions, oral or written, provided with the object concerning its use; (13) [t]he existence and scope of legitimate uses for the object in the community; and (14) expert testimony concerning its use. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-64-101(v)(1).

Appellant relies upon Gilmore v. State, 79 Ark. App. 303, 87 S.W.3d 805 (2002), which lays out the above statutory factors when considering whether an object is drug paraphernalia. With little analysis, appellant argues that "none of [the factors] would reflect that appellant was in possession of drug paraphernalia."

Appellant's argument is not persuasive. Here, Officer Williams testified that during his pat-down search of appellant, he discovered a syringe in appellant's front pants pocket. Detective Paul Smith, a narcotics detective with the Fort Smith Police Department who was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, testified that the syringe is most commonly used to inject methamphetamine. On cross-examination, Detective Smith testified that there was no residue in the syringe that would indicate that it had yet been used.

[11] Under Ark. Code Ann. Code Ann.Ark. Code Ann. [sic] § 5-64-101(v)(11), a syringe is deemed as drug paraphernalia when it is intended to be used to inject a controlled substance. Additionally, under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-64-101(v), the syringe in appellant's pocket was in close proximity to the methamphetamine found in the plastic bags behind appellant's driver's seat. We have found that syringes are drug paraphernalia when in close proximity to methamphetamine. Stanton v. State, 344 Ark. 589, 42 S.W.3d 474