COURT SETTLES COCAINE DISPUTE

Drug Possession Declared A Felony

RALEIGH -- The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that possession of
cocaine is a felony, overturning a controversial appeals court
decision that possession of the drug was a misdemeanor under state
law. At the heart of the matter was confusion over whether a 1979 law
outlines cocaine possession charges as misdemeanors or felonies.
Supreme Court Justice Ed Brady wrote in the ruling that the General
Assembly considered cocaine possession a felony charge and as such can
be considered when determining habitual felon status.

North Carolina law establishes sentencing guidelines for defendants
who have been convicted of more than three felonies and are considered
habitual felons. Attorney General Roy Cooper had appealed the Court of
Appeals' decision, which overturned the sentencing and habitual felon
convictions of Norman Wayne Jones and Corey Tyrone Sneed-El.

"I'm pleased that the North Carolina Supreme Court recognizes that
possession of cocaine should remain a felony," Cooper said in a
prepared statement. "This ruling is critical to our fight against
drugs and crime because it allows for longer sentences and gives
prosecutors the opportunity to use cocaine possession charges to keep
habitual felons off the street." When the Court of Appeals' justices
unanimously agreed in November that the General Assembly considered
cocaine possession a misdemeanor, it held that Jones and Sneed-El
should not be considered habitual felons and would have to be
resentenced.

Jones pleaded guilty in 2002 to possession of cocaine with intent to
sell and deliver and was sentenced as a habitual felon because he had
three previous felony convictions. Jones appealed his prison sentence,
which was based on his habitual felon status, on the grounds that the
state legislation identified cocaine possession as a misdemeanor
offense. Sneed-El, who had been previously convicted of three cocaine
possession charges, was arrested during a traffic stop for possession
of a firearm as a felon. He was then convicted as a habitual felon for
the firearms charge and was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Daniel Shatz, a Durham lawyer who represented Sneed-El, maintains that
state legislation outlines cocaine as a misdemeanor and as such, his
client should never have been convicted of the felony firearm
possession charge or sentenced as a habitual felon.

"It really needs some overhauling," Shatz said, adding that he and his
client were disappointed with the ruling. "What you get is essentially
a lot of people who are drug addicts or have substance abuse problems
who are being warehoused in the prison system instead of getting
treatment."