Davis v. Com., Record No. 2951-99-4.

• Decision Date: 30 January 2001
• Docket Number: Record No. 2951-99-4.
• Citation: 540 S.E.2d 513,34 Va. App. 257
• Parties: Christine E. DAVIS v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.
• Court: Virginia Court of Appeals

540 S.E.2d 513

34 Va. App. 257

Christine E. DAVIS v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 2951-99-4.

Court of Appeals of Virginia. Alexandria.

January 30, 2001.

Clark E. Brodersen, for appellant.

John H. McLees, Jr., Senior Assistant Attorney General (Mark L. Earley, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: WILLIS, BRAY and CLEMENTS, JJ.

WILLIS, Judge.

Christine E. Davis (appellant) was convicted by a jury of possession of more than five pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute, a violation of Code § 18.2-248.1. On appeal, she contends that the trial court erred in allowing a detective to testify about drug courier mannerisms. We hold that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony, but that this error was harmless. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 13, 1999, a drug task force team, composed of Arlington Police Detectives Lowell Tolliver and Gregory Bender, was investigating illegal drug traffic at Reagan National Airport. Detective Tolliver had received a tip from a drug task force officer in El Paso, Texas that a named suspect transporting marijuana would arrive in the late afternoon on a Delta Airlines flight. The suspect was described as a black woman wearing a long green dress and white tennis shoes, who had checked two bags, one large and one small.

The detectives confirmed that the named person was on the flight and had checked two bags. When the plane landed, Detective Tolliver intercepted the bags before they were taken to the luggage carousel. A narcotics dog sniffed but did not alert on the two bags.

The two bags were then sent to the luggage carousel, which Detective Bender kept under surveillance. Davis was there, matching the description the detectives had been given earlier by the El Paso, Texas officer. She waited until most of the other passengers had claimed their bags. She then retrieved the smaller bag, but was unable to find the larger bag because it had been removed from the carousel by a skycap. She began to leave without the larger bag.

Detective Tolliver approached Davis and identified himself. He explained his mission and asked her for identification. She gave him her driver's license, airline itinerary, and two baggage claim checks.

At first, Davis told the officers that the small bag was her only bag. Detective Bender retrieved the larger bag and pointed out to Davis that it had her name on it, that she had two claim checks, and that one of the claim checks matched the number on the larger bag. Davis then admitted that she had checked both bags, but stated that someone else had packed the larger bag and given it to her to transport.

Davis consented to the detectives' search of the two bags. Inside the larger bag, they found twenty-eight "bricks" of marijuana wrapped in blankets and plastic and surrounded by dishwashing liquid. The smaller bag contained no drugs. Davis was arrested and charged with possession of more than five pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

During the trial, Detective Bender was asked, "[a]re there any particular mannerisms that would indicate more likely than not that somebody was carrying drugs?" Davis objected based on relevancy grounds but was overruled. Detective Bender answered:

[s]omething I would look for that would be indicative of a drug courier or smuggler would be somebody that would purchase a cash one-way ticket primarily from a source state, California, New Mexico, western coast, Florida, New York.

The ticket would be paid for in cash, usually one-way travel, what we call quick turnaround, somebody flying from the west coast to the east coast, which is a six-hour flight. They would be in Washington, D.C., less than 12 hours and then turn around and go right back.

When asked whether the route a person took could indicate that he was a drug courier, Detective Bender responded:

[s]ometimes the individuals know that the law enforcement concentrates on those source cities, in particular the West Coast or Texas, and what they will do is they will book a flight to a non-source city that the law enforcement is not concentrating so heavily on.

A lot of times they will fly into Kansas or

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