By Ray King
The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected claims by an inmate that there was not enough evidence to support his conviction.
A Jefferson County jury convicted Joshua Branch, 37, of one count of furnishing prohibited articles and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
On appeal, Branch argued t hat prosecutors failed to prove that the elements of the crime.
Court testimony showed that Branch was a work release inmate at the Pine Bluff unit of the ADC and during a strip search, an officer found two rolling papers filled with K-2 on Branch’s person.
The material was turned over to the State Police and sent to the crime lab where a chemist confirmed it was a synthetic cannabinoid and was on the controlled substance act list.
In his appeal, Branch contended that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because the state failed to prove he knowingly possessed K-2.
However, the appeals court said Branch did not argue that in a directed verdict motion and could not bring it up now.
Branch is serving his sentence at the Cummins Unit and will be eligible to apply
