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No new trial for teacher convicted of making meth
| Friday, Oct 10 2008 9:10 AM
Last Updated: Friday, Oct 10 2008 11:11 AM
A judge has rejected a request for a new trial for a Shafter chemistry teacher convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine, the prosecutor said Friday.
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That means Jeff Scheidemantel will be sentenced on Oct. 16, although his attorney, Stan Simrin, plans to file a request to keep Scheidemantel free on bail pending appeal.
The maximum possible sentenced is seven years in prison, but for someone like Scheidemantel with a spotless criminal record, it could be far less.
Simrin asked for a new trial, arguing the facts of the case fell short of what is necessary for a conviction.
But prosecutor Bud Starr disagreed saying a person doesn’t have to complete the manufacturing process to be convicted of that crime.
Judge William Palmer agreed with Starr in his ruling.
Scheidemantel extracted ephedrine — a component of methamphetamine — from $35 worth of cold tablets, and he tried to order another component, red phosphorus, the evidence showed.
Simrin said the jury could not agree on a second count, possession of materials for the manufacture of meth, because they couldn’t agree he intended to manufacture methamphetamine.
Starr said a conviction on the first count required only that the defendant knew that the materials could be used to manufacture methamphetamine, not that he had the intent to do so.
Before his arrest, Scheidemantel had been teaching chemistry at Shafter High School.