A Dunedin District Court jury took about three hours yesterday to decide a man found with 109g of dried cannabis in his house last July was a drug dealer.
Massage therapist James Albert Reeve (28), had denied possessing cannabis for sale, contending he had grown the cannabis himself for his own use, as he did not want to be involved with any undesirables, such as gangs, who dealt in drugs.
And he said text messages alleged by police to be incriminating had been misinterpreted.
As well as the dried cannabis, the police found 13 mature cannabis plants growing under lights in a converted basement room in Reeve's house.
They also found a quantity of resealable plastic bags, a set of digital scales and $570 cash.
But Reeve said he was a first-time grower, that he was unsure how many plants would survive and that the ongoing nature of the "grow" was so he could have a continuing supply of cannabis.
Crown counsel Richard Smith told the jurors in his closing address the nature and extent of the cultivation was relevant as it showed the investment Reeve had made in the operation and it made sense he was "going to recoup that".
And the text messages were an important part of the case, Mr Smith said.
Defence counsel Campbell Savage said it was accepted Reeve had grown the cannabis, that he had it in his possession and that he had to rebut the presumption it was for sale, given the quantity.
But the defence said it was more likely than not that the cannabis was not for sale and all the matters relied on by the Crown had an innocent explanation.
Following the jury's verdict, Judge Stephen O'Driscoll convicted Reeve and granted him bail until sentence on April 21, but he said prison was "highly likely".
