People v. Williams

• Decision Date: 27 December 2005
• Docket Number: Docket No. 257357.
• Citation: 707 N.W.2d 624,268 Mich. App. 416
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John Thomas WILLIAMS, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

Page 624

707 N.W.2d 624

268 Mich. App. 416

PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John Thomas WILLIAMS, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 257357.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted October 6, 2005, at Marquette.

Decided October 13, 2005, at 9:15 a.m.

Released for Publication December 27, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Michael A. Cox, Attorney General, Thomas L. Casey, Solicitor General, and Nancy Mullett, Assistant Attorney General, for the people.

State Appellate Defender (by Gail Rodwan) for the defendant on appeal.

Before: O'CONNELL, P.J., and SAWYER and MURPHY, JJ.

MURPHY, J.

Defendant was convicted, following a jury trial, of possession with intent to deliver less than five kilograms of marijuana, MCL 333.7401(2)(d)(iii). He was prosecuted as a repeat drug offender under MCL 333.7413(2), which provides for sentence enhancement when a defendant has been convicted of a second or subsequent drug offense under the controlled substances act, MCL 333.7101 et seq. The judgment of sentence reflects that defendant was sentenced to a term of 38 to 96 months' imprisonment. Defendant appeals as of right, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction and that the trial court erred at sentencing by doubling the minimum sentence authorized by law pursuant to MCL 333.7413(2). We affirm, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support defendant's conviction when reviewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution and that there was no sentencing error because MCL 333.7413(2) authorized the court's action in doubling the minimum sentence.

Defendant first asserts that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction, thereby violating his due process rights. Defendant contends that the prosecution failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he had possession of the marijuana and that he had an intent to deliver the marijuana, assuming possession. Defendant points to the fact that he was not the sole lessee or resident of the house where the marijuana was found, but was merely one of three lessees and one of possibly five individuals residing at the house. Moreover, more than 15 people were present when the police arrived with a warrant. Therefore, according to defendant, he did not have exclusive control over the marijuana. Furthermore, the prosecution failed to produce any evidence specifically linking him to the marijuana found in the home other than the very small amount of marijuana found in his bedroom, which could not support an inference of an intent to deliver. Thus, defendant contends that any intent to deliver had to be predicated on the larger quantity of marijuana found in the attic rafters, and defendant testified that the marijuana found in the attic was hidden there by someone else after the police arrived at the home. Consequently, the facts establish that someone other than defendant possessed the marijuana found in the attic. Finally, defendant argues that the prosecution's suggestion that drug paraphernalia found in the house created an inference of intent to deliver was incorrect because just the opposite would be true.

We review claims of insufficient evidence de novo. People v. Lueth, 253 Mich.App. 670, 680, 660 N.W.2d 322 (2002). When ascertaining whether sufficient evidence was presented at trial to support a conviction, this Court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution and determine whether a rational trier of fact could find that the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Wolfe, 440 Mich. 508, 515-516, 489 N.W.2d 748 (1992), amended 441 Mich. 1201, 489 N.W.2d 748 (1992). This Court will not interfere with the trier of fact's role of determining the weight of the evidence or the credibility of witnesses. Id. at 514-515, 489 N.W.2d 748. Circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences that arise from such evidence can constitute satisfactory proof of the elements of the crime. People v. Carines, 460 Mich. 750, 757, 597 N.W.2d 130 (1999). All conflicts in the evidence must be resolved in favor of the prosecution. People v. Terry, 224 Mich.App. 447, 452, 569 N.W.2d 641 (1997).

Defendant was not denied due process because there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction. To establish that defendant committed the charged offense, the prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) defendant knowingly possessed a controlled substance, (2) defendant intended to deliver the controlled substance to someone else, (3) the substance possessed was marijuana and defendant was aware that it was, and (4) the marijuana was in a mixture that weighed less than five kilograms. MCL 333.7401(2)(d)(iii); People v. Crawford, 458 Mich. 376, 389, 582 N.W.2d 785 (1998); see also CJI2d 12.3.

Defendant argues that he was situated similarly to the defendant in People v. Peterson, 63 Mich.App. 538, 234 N.W.2d 692 (1975). In Peterson, the defendant was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. The defendant was the lessee of a residence where 7 1/2 ounces of marijuana were found, but a number of other rent-paying residents and guests had also stayed at the house. Most of the marijuana was located in the room of another resident and none was found in the areas over which the defendant had exclusive control. No evidence was introduced showing that the defendant knew of the marijuana's presence in the home. The Peterson panel further noted that there was "nothing at all to connect defendant to this marijuana." Id. at 546, 234 N.W.2d 692. This Court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the defendant's conviction of possession with intent to deliver when "the only marijuana that the jury could properly find defendant possessed" consisted of marijuana seeds that were located in a manila envelope stored in a box in which the title to the defendant's motorcycle was also located, and that were too slight in quantity to suggest an intent to deliver. Id. at 546-548, 234 N.W.2d 692.

The evidence presented here is clearly distinguishable from the set of circumstances confronting the Peterson panel. First, defendant admitted that he knew of the marijuana found in the attic, and he admitted that he had pooled his own money together with that of his roommates in order to purchase the "attic" marijuana. According to the investigating officer, defendant acknowledged that the marijuana found in the attic might be his and that his fingerprints might be found on it. Moreover, defendant's written statement to the police indicates that all the marijuana was for him and his roommates, and the statement does not distinguish between the marijuana found in his bedroom and that found in the attic, but refers to marijuana in the aggregate.

Defendant contends that all of this can be explained away by the fact that his portion of the marijuana had been removed from the bag found in the attic, so that he did not possess what remained in it. The prosecution, however, need not rebut any and all theories that could prove a defendant innocent, but need only submit evidence sufficient to convince a reasonable jury of the existence of the elements of the crime in the face of whatever contradictory evidence the defendant provides. People v. Hardiman, 466 Mich. 417, 423-424, 646 N.W.2d 158 (2002). Moreover, defendant's contention goes to credibility, which was an issue to be resolved by the jury. We reiterate that circumstantial evidence and the reasonable inferences that arise from it can constitute sufficient proof of the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Carines, supra at 757, 597 N.W.2d 130.

With respect to possession, it may be actual or constructive. Wolfe, supra at 520, 489 N.W.2d 748. Constructive possession exists if the defendant knew that the substance was present and had the right to exercise control over it. Id. Put differently, constructive possession exists if "the totality of the circumstances indicates a sufficient nexus between the defendant and the contraband." Id. at 521, 489 N.W.2d 748. Possession may be joint, with more than one individual constructively possessing the contraband, and constructive possession may be found even if the defendant is not the owner of the controlled substance. Id. at 520, 489 N.W.2d 748. In this case, even if defendant did not consider himself to be the owner of the marijuana found in the attic because his portion had been removed from it, a rational jury could still find that there was a sufficient nexus between it and defendant to conclude that defendant had constructive possession of it when he admitted that he knew of its presence and that his money had gone toward its purchase. The officer's testimony relative to defendant's admission that his fingerprints might be discovered on the bags of marijuana found in the attic further supports a conclusion that defendant had control over it. Accordingly, a rational trier of fact could have reasonably concluded that defendant had constructive possession of the marijuana found in the attic.

The jury could also have rationally concluded that defendant possessed the requisite intent to deliver. An intent to deliver "may be proven by circumstantial evidence and also may be inferred from the amount of controlled substance possessed." People v. Ray, 191 Mich.App. 706, 708, 479 N.W.2d 1 (1991). "`Deliver' or `delivery' means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from 1 person to another of a controlled substance, whether or not there is an agency relationship." MCL 333.7105(1); see also People v. Schultz, 246 Mich.App. 695, 703-704, 635 N.W.2d 491 (2001).

Here, the marijuana found in the attic was divided in six small plastic bags. This packaging could suggest that the marijuana was intended to be transferred to others. See Wolfe, supra at 524-525, 489 N.W.2d 748. Moreover, the number of plastic bags into which the...