State v. Benniefield
Minnesota Supreme Court
678 N.W.2d 42 (2004)
- Written by Jamie Milne, JD
Facts
A police officer witnessed Steven Benniefield (defendant) walking close to the Riverside School property line late at night. After confirming that there was an outstanding warrant for Benniefield’s arrest, the officer arrested Benniefield. The officer discovered a crack pipe on Benniefield during a pat-down. After another officer drove Benniefield to the correctional center, the officer found a bag containing 1.1 grams of cocaine in the officer’s squad car. Bennifield was convicted of third-degree possession of a controlled substance within a school zone. At trial, Benniefield argued that he did not intend to be in a school zone and was merely walking the most direct route between work and his home. Benniefield appealed his conviction on the grounds that: (1) harsher punishments for drug possession inside school zones violate the equal protection guarantee of the Minnesota Constitution, and (2) the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury that intent to be in a school zone was a required element of the offense. The court of appeals affirmed Benniefield’s conviction, and Benniefield appealed again on the same grounds.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hanson, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
