Acquittal on drug charge
After deliberating for three hours a jury in the High Court yesterday found Richard Edward Ferris, age d 30, of Dunedin, not guilty on a charge of having possession of methadone, a class-B drug, for supply. This was the second time Ferris had been tried on . that charge. In June he was found guilty by a jury on a charge of having possession of a syringe for drug use but the jure- could not reach a verdict on the charge of possession of methadone for supply. Mr D. J. L. Saunders appeared for the Crown, and Mr R. J. McMurtrie appeared for Ferris. » Evidence was given that Ferris was stopped in Ashburton by the police while driving from Dunedin to Christchurch. A plastic bag was found hidden under the dashboard. It contained methadone tablets and powder. Ferris gave evidence that he was a registered drug addict and the methadone found in the car was for his own use to help him combat his addiction to heroin. He was travelling to Christchurch for Christmas to see Dr J. R. E. Dobson, of the drug dependence unit at Princess Margaret Hospital, regarding his methadone programme.
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Press, 11 July 1980, Page 5
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197Acquittal on drug charge Press, 11 July 1980, Page 5
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