White v. State, 310 Ga. App. 386

Background

White was found walking in the middle of a street at 2:00 a.m. and showed signs of intoxication; officers approached him in a public place and questioned him without detaining him.
Smells of alcohol on White and his cup prompted concerns leading to an arrest for unlawfully walking on the roadway and for walking under the influence of alcohol.
During the arrest, White resisted, kicking and biting officers; a search incident to arrest revealed digital scales and a bag containing cocaine in his pockets.
A field test by a drug task force officer indicated cocaine; the bag was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and lab analysis confirmed cocaine.
White challenged the effectiveness of his counsel, the sufficiency of the evidence, and several evidentiary and jury-assembly rulings at trial.
The trial court and appellate review addressed suppression, sufficiency of the cocaine evidence, and various evidentiary and instructional rulings.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was trial counsel ineffective for not moving to suppress evidence?	White contends arrest was unlawful and suppression would have benefited.	State argues initial encounter was consensual and search incident to arrest was lawful.	No; suppression would have been meritless; counsel not ineffective.
Is the evidence sufficient to sustain possession with intent to distribute cocaine?	White argues pants belonged to another man; ownership issue defeats possession with intent.	State disbelieved the other man's claim and showed White wore the pants with cocaine in a pocket.	Yes; rational jury could find White possessed cocaine with intent to distribute.
Was there sufficient evidence to convict of felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer?	Obstruction not proven since officers were not necessarily in lawful duties or attacked.	White assaulted officers while they attempted to arrest him.	Yes; kicking and biting during arrest supported felony obstruction.
Was it error to deny a charge on misdemeanor obstruction as a lesser included offense?	Should have instructed on lesser offense.	Greater offense shown; no need for lesser included offense instruction.	No; evidence supported the greater offense; no lesser included instruction required.
Was the juror improperly challenging due to a familial connection?	Juror's relative served on a grand jury in the case; bias concern.	No demonstrated bias; trial court acted within discretion.	No; court did not abuse discretion; juror could be fair and impartial.

Key Cases Cited

In the Interest of D.H., 285 Ga. 51 (2009) (defines encounter types for Fourth Amendment analysis)
Lucas v. State, 284 Ga. App. 450 (2007) (consensual encounters with police; no detention needed)
State v. Dukes, 279 Ga. App. 247 (2006) (consensual approach to ordinary police-citizen interactions)
Miller v. State, 221 Ga. App. 494 (1996) (validity of searches incident to arrest when supported by probable cause)
Clark v. State, 212 Ga. App. 486 (1994) (scope of search incident to arrest)
Gillison v. State, 254 Ga. App. 232 (2002) (kicking at an officer as evidence of violence for obstruction)
Haywood v. State, 301 Ga. App. 717 (2009) (expert testimony foundation or sufficiency when another technician testifies)
Scott v. State, 219 Ga. App. 906 (1996) (harmless error when non-expert testimony about appearance of cocaine is supported by expert)
Johnson v. State, 281 Ga. App. 7 (2006) (jury may disbelieve a third-party claim about possession)
Steinberg v. State, 286 Ga. App. 417 (2007) (standard for reasonable doubt and appellate review of conflicts in testimony)