Hall v. State

• Decision Date: 28 June 1991
• Docket Number: No. A91A0053,A91A0053
• Citation: Hall v. State, 407 S.E.2d 470, 200 Ga.App. 244 (Ga. App. 1991)
• Parties: HALL v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 470

407 S.E.2d 470

200 Ga.App. 244

HALL v. The STATE.

No. A91A0053.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

June 28, 1991.

Mary E. Erickson, Atlanta, for appellant.

Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Joseph J. Drolet, Sylvia A. Martin, Asst. Dist. Attys., for appellee.

COOPER, Judge.

Appellant was indicted for one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of misdemeanor possession of marijuana. He was convicted by a jury on both counts and appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial. Appellant's sole enumeration of error is the denial of his motion for directed verdict of acquittal made at the close of the State's case.

The evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the jury verdict reveals that Officer Harrington and three other members of the City of Atlanta Red Dog Anti-Drug Task Force, having received information that illegal drug sales were taking place at a certain apartment, positioned themselves outside the apartment. A female confidential informant, known by one of the officers to be reliable, went to the apartment under surveillance, and when she exited, gave the officers a plastic bag of suspected crack cocaine which she told the officers she had purchased from a man in the apartment. The informant agreed to return to the apartment to purchase another bag of cocaine. The informant went back to the apartment, accompanied by Officer Harrington, who stood behind her out of the view of anyone who opened the door. The informant knocked on the door, and when a man opened the door, the informant said "I need another one" and handed the man a ten dollar bill. When the man reached out to hand the woman what appeared to be a bag of crack cocaine, Officer Harrington pushed the informant out of the way, put his foot in the doorway and tried to grab the man, subsequently identified by Officer Harrington as appellant. As Officer Harrington tried to push his way inside the apartment, appellant's co-defendant, Robert Mann ("Mann"), appeared over the top of appellant and pointed a gun in Officer Harrington's face. Officer Harrington dove to the ground, abandoning his attempt to get inside the apartment. The four officers positioned themselves at the front and rear of the apartment and approximately 15 minutes later, appellant and Mann came out of the apartment and were placed under arrest. Mann stated that it was his apartment and consented to its search during which, the officers found a mixture of suspected marijuana and cocaine. The white powder contained in both the bag taken from the informant and the...