Lead Opinion
Richard Evan Brown was found guilty by a DeKalb County jury of trafficking over 400 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine, OCGA § 16-13-31 (e) (3). On appeal, Brown contends that the State presented insufficient evidence of his guilt. More specifically, Brown argues that the State failed to prove that he knew he was in possession of a trafficking weight of methamphetamine. For the reasons set forth below, we disagree and affirm.
The standard for reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence
is whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia,443 U. S. 307 (99 SCt 2781 , 61 LE2d 560) (1979). This Court does not reweigh evidence or resolve conflicts in testimony; instead, evidence is reviewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, with deference to the jury’s assessment of the weight and credibility of the evidence.
(Citation omitted.) Hayes v. State,
So viewed, the evidence shows that on the morning of June 22, 2012, Brown and his co-defendant, Jesse Ray Scheidal, were traveling in a Nissan Maxima on Highway 78 in DeKalb County. Brown had borrowed the car from a friend the night before. The car veered off the highway without slowing down, rolled over several times, and came to rest upside down. A witness identified Scheidal as the driver,
After seeing the accident, a witness turned around and came back to the wrecked car. When he arrived at the scene, Scheidal had already exited the Maxima, and the witness helped pull Brown out of the passenger’s side of the car. After Brown and Scheidal went to the guardrail, the witness overheard Scheidal tell Brown that Brown was driving the car. Brown went back to the Maxima and returned with a cell phone. When the police arrived, the witness reported that Scheidal and Brown were “acting strange,” with one standing by the side of the road and the other “just wandering around.” A second witness described Brown as walking with his head down near the wrecked car “looking for something on the ground.” Against the advice of the witness, Brown also re-entered the overturned and still smoking vehicle.
After firefighters arrived at the scene they searched the debris field to make sure that no one had been ejected from the car. They could discern the car’s “direction of travel” as there were pieces of the guardrail on the ground, pointing toward the wood line. Near the wood line, they found a black box “in line with the debris field,” and between 75 and 100 feet from the Maxima. A firefighter recognized the box as a “pelican” box, a watertight box that absorbs shock and which the fire department uses to carry its cardiac drugs. Attached to the bottom of the box were two “doughnut magnets,” which the firefighter had not seen on that type of box. The box contained 433 grams of crystal methamphetamine.
Police, with the help of a canine unit, searched the Maxima but found no drugs or drug-related paraphernalia in the car or on Brown’s person. The owner of the Maxima testified that the box was not attached to her vehicle when she loaned her car to Brown, and that the drugs in the box did not belong to her.
The State also introduced similar transaction evidence, which was admitted to show knowledge and intent. Following the accident, Brown was arrested on October 4, 2012 in Gwinnett County for possession of marijuana and eight grams of methamphetamine. At the time of the arrest, Brown had recently left Scheidal’s residence driving a borrowed car. Brown told one officer that he had gotten the drugs from Scheidal’s residence, and he told the arresting officer that “he no longer uses drugs; he just delivers them.”
On October 21, 2012, persons, not including Brown, were pulled over by police after they drove away from Scheidal’s residence in a Ford Mustang. Police found a black box with magnets underneath the rear bumper of the car. Methamphetamine and marijuana were in the
Brown and Scheidal were indicted in this case for trafficking methamphetamine in violation of former OCGA § 16-13-31 (e) in that, on or about June 22, 2012, they “did knowingly possess 400 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine.” As a preliminary issue, Brown argues that the State was required to prove that he knew the methamphetamine was 28 grams or more. The State disagrees. Former OCGA § 16-13-31 (e),
In its argument, the State pointed out that Scott had not then been applied to former OCGA § 16-13-31 (b), (c), or (e). However, following the submission of the State’s appellate brief, this Court, in Summerville v. State,
Notwithstanding that we agree with Brown as to the requirements of former OCGA § 16-13-31 (e), we disagree that the evidence was insufficient to establish that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of trafficking in methamphetamine. Knowledge and possession, as any other fact, may be shown by circumstantial evidence. Freeman v. State,
Brown argues that evidence nevertheless does not show that he knew how much contraband was in the box. It is a reasonable possibility, Brown contends, that he had simply agreed to provide transportation for Scheidal, but that “he was not so nosy as to demand the details,” or that Brown knew that the box contained drugs but did not know the weight of the contraband. However, to support a conviction on circumstantial evidence, the proved facts need exclude only reasonable hypotheses. Jackson v. State,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
OCGA § 16-13-31 (e) (2012) provided:
(e) Any person who knowingly sells, delivers, or brings into this state or has possession of 28 grams or more of methamphetamine, amphetamine, or any mixture containing either methamphetamine or amphetamine, as described in Schedule II, in violation of this article commits the felony offense of trafficking in methamphetamine or amphetamine and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as follows: (1) If the quantity of methamphetamine, amphetamine, or a mixture containing either substance involved is 28 grams or more, but less than 200 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of ten years and shall pay a fine of $200,000.00; (2) If the quantity of methamphetamine, amphetamine, or a mixture containing either substance involved is 200 grams or more, hut less than 400 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and shall pay a fine of $300,000.00; and (3) If the quantity of methamphetamine, amphetamine, or a mixture containing either substance involved is 400 grams or more, the person shall he sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 25 years and shall pay a fine of $1 million.
Effective July 1,2013, OCGA § 16-13-31 (e), and the other provisions of OCGA § 16-13-31, were amended to delete “knowingly” throughout the Code section. Ga. L. 2013, p. 222, §§ 4,21. See Summerville v. State,
Concurrence Opinion
concurring in judgment only.
I concur in judgment only because I do not agree with all that is said in the majority opinion. As a result, the majority’s opinion decides only the issues presented in the case sub judice and may not be cited as binding precedent. See Court of Appeals Rule 33 (a).