State v. Jackson, 497 P.3d 1208

Background

Police obtained a warrant to search Shannon Jackson’s residence for narcotics based on an informant’s controlled buys and conducted short surveillance before executing it.
Officers watched Jackson leave the house, get into a vehicle with a female driver, stop at another house linked to narcotics, and then depart; officers stopped the vehicle shortly thereafter.
On contact, officers observed a large amount of cash on Jackson, saw a large baggie with smaller baggies in his pocket, and after a struggle Jackson threw a large baggie into the car; officers recovered it and later found 63 small baggies of crack cocaine.
A search of Jackson’s residence produced a .380 semi-automatic pistol, digital scales, and numerous small zip-lock baggies.
Jackson was convicted by a jury of trafficking, tampering with evidence, resisting/evading/obstructing an officer, and possession of drug paraphernalia; on appeal the court reversed the tampering conviction and otherwise affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Jackson)	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for tampering with evidence	Jackson threw the baggies to avoid prosecution; instruction tracked statute.	Throwing baggies in plain view of officers (immediately recovered) is not "hiding/placing" to frustrate prosecution; insufficient evidence.	Reversed tampering conviction—action occurred in officers' presence and evidence was not concealed, so insufficient.
Admission of gun found in residence (Rule 11-403)	Gun evidence is relevant to show Jackson was a drug dealer; firearms commonly accompany narcotics trafficking.	Probative value outweighed by prejudice; Jackson was unarmed at arrest and single gun doesn’t make trafficking more likely.	Even if admission was erroneous, any error was harmless given strong evidence of trafficking (63 baggies, $2,230, scales, baggies at residence).
Motion for mistrial after midtrial disclosure of supplemental police report	Non-willful failure to disclose; report consistent with testimony; provided promptly and remedy offered.	Late disclosure after years and repeated readiness for trial—mistrial warranted to enforce discovery obligations.	No abuse of discretion in denying mistrial; report was cumulative, no prejudice, court admonished prosecution and allowed recall for further cross-examination.
Suppression challenge to traffic stop (warrant for residence only)	Officers had reasonable suspicion to stop vehicle based on warrant, informant-controlled buys, surveillance, and seeing Jackson leave the house and stop at a known narcotics house.	Warrant did not name or describe Jackson; officers lacked justification to stop the vehicle—evidence should be suppressed.	Affirmed denial of suppression: under Alderete and totality of circumstances officers had specific, articulable facts supporting reasonable suspicion to stop and investigate.

Key Cases Cited

State v. Montoya, 345 P.3d 1056 (2015) (court may accept the State's concession of insufficiency of evidence)
State v. Radosevich, 419 P.3d 176 (2018) (tampering statute bars hiding/altering/placing evidence to frustrate prosecution)
State v. Roybal, 846 P.2d 333 (1992) (dropping items in officers' presence held insufficient for tampering)
State v. Delgado, 210 P.3d 828 (2009) (tampering supported where officers observed suspicious movement and could not see concealment)
State v. Alderete, 255 P.3d 377 (2011) (officers with a warrant and corroborating surveillance had reasonable suspicion to stop a vehicle leaving the subject residence)
State v. Astorga, 343 P.3d 1245 (2015) (harmless error review standard for preserved nonconstitutional trial errors)