Lott v. The State.Watson
| Decision Date | 20 September 2010 |
| Docket Number | A10A0559.,No. A10A0558,A10A0558 |
| Citation | 303 Ga.App. 775,694 S.E.2d 698 |
| Parties | LOTTv.The STATE.Watsonv.The State. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Clark & Towne, Jessica R. Towne, Lawrenceville, for appellant (case no. A10A0558).
Donn M. Peevy, Lawrenceville, for appellant (case no. A10A0559).
Daniel J. Porter, Dist. Atty., Stephen A. Fern, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.
Following a jury trial, co-defendants Henry Kelvin Lott and Linda Watson were convicted on one count of trafficking in cocaine 1 and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.2 Lott was also convicted by the same jury on one count of possession of hydrocodone.3 Both appeal their convictions and the denial of their respective motions for new trial, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support their convictions and that the trial court erred in denying their motions to suppress evidence seized by means of an allegedly unlawful search warrant. In addition, Lott contends that the trial court erred in failing to find that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance, and Watson argues that the court erred in allowing hearsay testimony. Because the charges arose from the same incident and the appellants were tried together, we have consolidated their separate appeals for review. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in both cases.
1. We first address Lott's and Watson's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting their convictions. “On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence must be construed in a light most favorable to the verdict and [appellants] no longer enjoy[ ] a presumption of innocence.” (Punctuation omitted.) Dennis v. State.4 In evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction we do not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility, but only determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendants guilty of the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia.5 Additionally, “[o]n appeal, the standard of review for denial of a motion for directed verdict is the same as that for determining the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction.” (Punctuation omitted.) Terry v. State.6
So viewed, the record shows that in March 2006, an undercover officer with the Gwinnett County Police Department had a confidential informant set up a drug deal between the officer and a drug dealer named Jesus Motta. On March 9, 2006, the undercover officer met Motta and Motta's girlfriend at a local gas station and told Motta that he wanted to buy an ounce of cocaine. Motta told the undercover officer that he did not have that amount of cocaine in his possession but that if the officer gave him $1,400, he would go and get it for him. Ultimately, the undercover officer agreed to give Motta $700 for half an ounce of cocaine, and Motta told the officer that he would meet him back at the gas station in about an hour.
As Motta and his girlfriend left the gas station in Motta's vehicle, an undercover police surveillance team followed them. The surveillance team followed Motta to the Carver Circle neighborhood and observed him as he parked his vehicle and approached a group of people who were in front of a house at 161 Carver Circle. However, based on their knowledge that the neighborhood was one known for illegal drug sales, the officers in the undercover surveillance team feared that they would be recognized as police officers if they stopped their vehicle to maintain constant surveillance of Motta. Consequently, the surveillance officers did not stop but drove past the house that Motta had approached. Eventually, they parked off a main road, not far from where Carver Circle emptied into that road, and waited. About 15 minutes later, the surveillance team observed Motta's vehicle exit Carver Circle onto the main road and proceed back toward the gas station.
Upon Motta's return to the gas station, he and the undercover officer got into the officer's vehicle, where Motta produced the cocaine. At that point, officers in the surveillance team arrested Motta. After being read Miranda warnings, Motta informed the officers that he bought the cocaine from a man known as “Boogie.” He also agreed to show the police where he bought the cocaine and in doing so, directed them back to the house at 161 Carver Circle, where the surveillance team had previously followed him. Motta again told the officers that Boogie and Boogie's wife sold drugs out of the property and that he had bought marijuana there on several occasions. Motta's girlfriend also independently confirmed that 161 Carver Circle was where Motta bought the cocaine.
Based on the information provided by Motta and the surveillance of him, the day after Motta's arrest, the police obtained a “no-knock” warrant to search the house at 161 Carver Circle for cocaine and the money given to Motta by the undercover officer. In the early evening hours of March 16, 2006, a team of police officers executed the search warrant, forcing their way through the front entrance of the house by using a battering ram. Upon entering the house, the police observed Lott and several other individuals sitting in the living room, and observed Watson running toward one of the back bedrooms while screaming to ask why the house was being raided. All the individuals found inside the house were initially detained. In searching Lott, the officers found a key to the house and a bottle containing hydrocodone pills, which had been prescribed to someone else. Additionally, after everyone had been detained, a man in the crowd of onlookers that had gathered in the street in front of the house asked one of the officers to “tell Boogie to call his brother.” When the officer subsequently yelled, “Boogie, call your brother” to those who had been detained, only Lott responded, “Okay.”
Thereafter, the officers began searching the entire house. In the right back bedroom, the officers found an air mattress and men's clothing. In the left back bedroom, to which Watson had been running when the police entered the house, the police found a black gym bag, containing large amounts of marijuana and crack cocaine and over $700 in cash. The bag also contained keys to the house and keys to a Jeep Cherokee, which was parked at the house and registered to Watson's son. For several days before the warrant was executed, an officer had seen the vehicle parked at the house and had also seen Watson driving it. In the same bedroom, the officers found women's beauty products, Watson's wallet, which was on the bed and which contained over $1,300 in cash, and photographs, which appeared to have been taken inside the house and which depicted Lott and Watson posing with large amounts of fanned out cash. Additionally, the officers found a yellow notebook, which had writing indicating that it was owned by an individual named “Black” and which appeared to contain records of numerous drug sales. At the same time, an officer, who had confiscated Watson's cell phone while she was being detained, noticed that there was a photograph of Lott with the name “Black” next to it in the cell phone's contacts list.
Lott and Watson were jointly indicted on one count of trafficking in cocaine and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. In the same indictment, Lott was also charged with one count of illegal possession of hydrocodone. Both Lott and Watson filed motions to suppress the evidence that the police found during their search of the house at 161 Carver Circle on the ground that the search warrant was invalid. After a hearing in which only the officer who completed the supporting affidavit testified, the trial court denied the motions.
At trial, several of the officers involved in the case testified regarding their investigation and arrest of Lott and Watson. In addition, GBI forensic chemists testified that the contraband found by the police at 161 Carver Circle included 28.3 grams of marijuana packaged in 16 separate bags and 54.15 grams of cocaine with a purity level of 85 percent. Another GBI forensic chemist testified that the pills in the prescription bottle found in Lott's pocket tested positive as hydrocodone. At the close of the State's case, Lott and Watson moved for a directed verdict of acquittal, which the trial court denied.
During the defense's case, the owner of the home at 161 Carver Circle testified that he had leased the property to a woman named Iris Cody but that she had not paid rent or been seen since the police executed the search warrant. The defense also called Motta as a witness, who testified that Lott was not the person he knew as Boogie and that Lott did not sell him the cocaine on the day that Motta was arrested by the undercover officers. Nevertheless, at the trial's conclusion, the jury found both Lott and Watson guilty on all counts of the indictment. Subsequently, both Lott and Watson filed motions for new trial, which the trial court denied after a hearing. These appeals followed.
Lott and Watson contend that the evidence was insufficient to support their convictions of trafficking in cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Specifically, they argue that the evidence was insufficient to prove that they knowingly possessed the cocaine and marijuana, as required by OCGA §§ 16-13-31(a) and 16-13-30(j)(1). We disagree.
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