Grigsby v. State
| Decision Date | 16 March 1976 |
| Docket Number | 6 Div. 126 |
| Citation | 333 So.2d 891 |
| Parties | Vernon O. GRIGSBY v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Lewis K. Cato and James B. Morton, II, Birmingham, for appellant.
William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and Jane LeCroy Robbins, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Possession of marijuana for personal use; sentence: one year imprisonment in the county jail. The appellant waived trial by jury, and the case was tried solely before the circuit judge.
Joe Marsh, the State's first witness testified that he was a reserve deputy of the Blount County Sheriff's Department. On the night of July 21, 1974, he was on duty and patrolling with a regular deputy sheriff, Larry Staten. They drove by a chert pit near the Lebanon Church in Blount County where several cars were parked and a group of young people were gathered. He stated that they stopped and started talking to some of the gathering to determine what was happening. Marsh said that he saw the appellant coming from the direction of a small yellow convertible. The appellant was having difficulty walking and appeared to be drunk. The top of the convertible was open, and Marsh looked inside. He saw a brown grocery bag containing four or five plastic bags with a green substance in them. He lifted the bag out of the car, and Deputy Staten then asked, 'Who does this belong to?' Marsh said that the appellant answered, 'It's mine.' Marsh stated that another person present, Coleman Elrod, claimed the material and both were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.
Deputy Staten testified that he and Marsh stopped at the chert pit and got out of the patrol car to determine what was happening. They talked to some of the people there and then started looking through the windows of the cars parked there. He stated that he was merely looking through the windows, but Deputy Marsh was, 'giving the cars a pretty thorough search.' Staten said he observed the appellant when they arrived and that he was staggering and appeared to be intoxicated. He testified that Marsh picked up a bag of marijuana from the yellow sports convertible.
Staten testified that he was trained in identification of controlled substances and marijuana, that he had experience as an officer with marijuana, and that based upon his training, experience and knowledge in recognizing controlled substances and drugs, that in his opinion, the bag contained marijuana. He testified that he asked who the marijuana belonged to and that the appellant said, 'It's my marijuana.' Staten said Coleman Elrod then spoke up saying, Elrod was then arrested also. A report from the State Toxicologist, stating that the substance was found to be marijuana was introduced during Deputy Staten's testimony. On cross-examination, Staten testified that he had not seen the appellant in the convertible and had not seen him in possession of the marijuana. The State rested its case. There was no motion to exclude the State's evidence at that point.
The defense called Coleman Elrod who testified that he was present on the night in question and that he had borrowed the appellant's car. He stated that he went and picked up the sack of marijuana. He then returned to the chert pit, and that the appellant had not been in the car from the time he drove it until the marijuana was found by the deputy. The witness further stated that the appellant had no knowledge of the marijuana, did not own it, sell it to him, or othewise have anything to do with the marijuana. Elrod testified:
'They got out and first started searching cars and asking us what we were doing there. And we said we were just up there sitting. And they found marijuana in Vernon's car. And they asked whose car it was. And Vernon stood up and said, 'It is my car.'
'And then the officer said, 'You are under arrest for possession of marijuana.' And I said it was my marijuana. And I tried to explain to him that I had just driven the car. And they said,
Elrod further testified that he had plead guilty to possession of the same marijuana and that he was presently under sentence.
Ralphine Hayes, Debbie Belou, Donald Nichols and Larry Edwards Cornelius each testified for the defense in substance as follows: that they were present at the chert pit on the night in question together with the appellant and were merely visiting and talking; that no one was smoking marijuana or in possession; that they did not see the appellant in possession of marijuana or hear him having conversation about it until the police arrived; that Coleman Elrod borrowed the appellant's car and was absent for a time and then returned; that the appellant did not go back to his car or near it from the time Coleman Elrod returned; that the appellant did not state to the deputies that the marijuana found in his car gelonged to him, and; that the deputies told the appellant they were placing him under arrest for public drunkenness.
The appellant, Vernon Grigsby, testified that he was placed under arrest for possession of marijuana on the night of July 21, 1974, when a sack of marijuana was found in his car....
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