State of Connecticut v. Demetrice L. Lewis

Summary

The court held that the evidence was insufficient to prove that the defendant intended to sell narcotics at the specific location where he was apprehended, so retrial on the school-zone narcotics-sale charge was barred and an acquittal was required. It held, however, that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to infer that the nearby public school was an elementary or secondary school, permitting retrial on the school-zone paraphernalia charge after the instructional error. Justice Eveleigh, joined by Justice Vertefeuille, concurred regarding the narcotics-sale charge but would also have affirmed the acquittal on the paraphernalia charge.