(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Indiana Appellate Court has overturned a woman’s conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia after she was caught with a marijuana grinding device.
When Danielle Vina Sallee was convicted of a misdemeanor for possessing a grinder, the state successfully argued the device is used to prepare marijuana to be introduced into a person's body fitting loosely into the definition of paraphernalia.
The device simply grinds the plant into a finer consistency.
The state abandoned that argument on appeal, instead arguing that the device is used for enhancing the effect of marijuana.
The appeallate ruling noted the state can’t limit its argument to one theory at trial and change the argument on appeal.
It noted the question of whether a grinder is paraphernalia was already answered in a 2018 case that found it was not, because its used to prepare the drug to be introduced into the body by another means.
The ruling also found that the state’s new argument is unsupported and overturned woman’s conviction.
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