Meiher v. State, 883S294
| Decision Date | 02 April 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 883S294,883S294 |
| Citation | 461 N.E.2d 115 |
| Parties | Charles S. MEIHER, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Kenneth T. Roberts, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., John D. Shuman, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
Defendant-Appellant Charles S. Meiher was found guilty by the Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division One, of class C felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, to-wit: Pentazocine (Talwin). The trial court subsequently found Appellant to be a habitual offender. The trial court accordingly sentenced Appellant to five years imprisonment for his possession conviction and to thirty years imprisonment for being a habitual offender. Said sentences were ordered to run consecutively. Appellant now directly appeals and raises the following two issues:
1. sufficiency of the evidence supporting Appellant's possession conviction; and
2. sufficiency of the evidence supporting Appellant's habitual offender finding.
On May 5, 1982, police officers searched Appellant's rented room at the Mayfair Hotel in Indianapolis pursuant to a search warrant. During said search, police found quantities of Talwin on a desk, in a desk drawer, in a dresser drawer and in a crawl space above the bathroom. Appellant was in his room at the time and acknowledged that Talwin was in the desk drawer. Syringes and blank prescription forms bearing the names of numerous doctors also were found in the room. After being arrested, Appellant told police that his friend Lori Sedan would admit guilt in this case to acquit Appellant if Appellant so directed her. Sedan subsequently testified at trial that the drugs located in Appellant's room belonged to her and that she was illegally dealing in them without Appellant's knowledge or involvement. Sedan further testified that she was a prostitute and seventeen years old when Appellant was arrested for the instant crime. There also was evidence adduced at trial that a police informant previously had purchased controlled drugs from Appellant in his room at the Mayfair Hotel.
Upon a review for sufficient evidence, this Court will look only to the evidence most favorable to the State with all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom. If the existence of each element of the crime charged can be found beyond a reasonable doubt therefrom, the judgment will not be disturbed. In such a review, we will neither weigh conflicting evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Rose v. State, (1983) Ind., 446 N.E.2d 598. In the present case, police searched Appellant's room pursuant to a search warrant predicated upon evidence of a prior sale of controlled drugs by Appellant to a police informant in Appellant's room. Evidence of Appellant's actual illegal possession of a relatively large quantity of controlled drugs is sufficient to sustain his conviction for possession with intent to deliver. Henry v. State, (1978) 269 Ind. 1, 379 N.E.2d 132. Appellant's prior sale and the quantity of Talwin found in his room further support the inference that Appellant possessed Talwin with an intent to deliver. We accordingly find sufficient evidence to support Appellant's possession conviction.
Appellant next complains that the State failed to prove h...
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