Cocaine, drug testing, evidence, search.

Prosecutors appeal a lower court's ruling in a cocaine possession case. Authorities arrested Earl Thronsen during a raid of a suspected "crack house." A post-arrest drug test produced a positive result for cocaine. A grand jury indicted Thronsen on charges of illegally possessing cocaine in his body. A court rejected Thronsen's motion for summary judgment on the charge.

A trial jury found Thronsen guilty as charged. However, the trial judge vacated the conviction. The judge ruled prosecutors could not indict a defendant on charges of having cocaine "in his body." The state now appeals.

The state loses. The Alaska Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's ruling. The appeals court ruled that a review of case law concluded a defendant could not be convicted of possession of cocaine "in his body." The appeals court ruled the lower court made no reversible error.