State v. Lee
Louisiana Court of Appeal
625 So. 2d 645 (1993)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
As part of an undercover operation targeting narcotics dealers in New Iberia, Louisiana, undercover police officer Tony Gant purchased crack cocaine from Nathaniel Lee (defendant). Officers arrested Lee, and he admitted to selling cocaine. At Lee’s trial on charges of distributing cocaine, the State of Louisiana (plaintiff) offered an audiotape of Lee’s sale of the cocaine to Gant. The audiotape was difficult to understand because of background noise on the recording, but a police detective testified that over the background noise, Lee could be heard telling Gant that he had $40 and $25 rocks of crack cocaine. The trial court admitted the audiotape into evidence over an objection from Lee’s counsel. The court said that even though parts of the recording were unintelligible, it was still a recording of the drug sale, and jury members could give the recording whatever weight they thought it deserved. The jury ultimately found Lee guilty, and he appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Doucet, J.)
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