Melissa McCann Arms, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The court reversed and dismissed Melissa McCann Arms's conviction because the statute did not extend to drug transmission to an unborn child and the evidence did not show that she actively introduced methamphetamine into the child's body after birth. Applying strict construction, expressio unius, and ejusdem generis, the court held that passive transfer through maternal bodily processes was not criminalized by the statute. Chief Justice Brill concurred based on legislative primacy and the statute's failure expressly to include the conduct, while Justice Wood concurred but would have avoided deciding whether passive transfer could ever qualify as otherwise introducing a controlled substance.