Thomas F. Rauschenberg appeals his conviction of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act by illegally possessing and selling methaqualone. Held:
1. The defendant enumerates error in the denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized following his arrest during the alleged sale of methaqualone tablets. He asserts a unique and novel argument that as a condition of parole from a prior conviction for the sale of cocaine he was. required to participate in a mental health program in which he was administered a psychotropic drug — stelazine. He contends that the effect of the forced ingestion of this drug “was a direct unjustified seizure of his person which severely restricted, if not totally eliminated, his freedom of movement . . . [The drug] created a hellish environment in which [he] was a virtual prisoner... [A] person is so mentally savaged he may not even be aware of his predicament. . . [He] knew something was wrong but was not sure what it was.”
It would appear that defendant is attempting to raise a defense equating that of insanity to require suppression of the evidence seized following his arrest. We find no merit to this enumeration. Defendant’s purported confused mental state is not an acceptable legal reason for suppression of evidence seized following his arrest. See 21 AmJur2d 159, Crim. Law, §41. It is arguable that such a mental state could be asserted as an insanity defense on a general plea of not guilty but it is not a legal basis for suppression of evidence. See 21 AmJur2d 173, Crim. Law, § 55. Our Supreme Court has held that a defendant’s “testimony that he was in a ‘semi-conscious’ or ‘blanked out’ state of mind is insufficient to raise the issue of insanity.”
Adams v. State,
If the defendant relies upon involuntary intoxication because of the mandatory medication he would still be subject to the provisions of Code Ann. § 26-704 (Ga. L. 1968, pp. 1249,1270), requiring that he establish he did not have sufficient mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong in relation to such act. Georgia law presumes the sanity of a defendant. Code Ann. § 26-606 (Ga. L. .1968, p. 1270). And, a defendant bears the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence, that he was not mentally responsible at the time of the alleged crime.
Durham v. State,
2. Appellate courts pass on the sufficiency of the evidence, but not the weight.
Eubanks v. State,
Judgment affirmed.
