Staggs v. State, CR-20-349

• Decision Date: 26 May 2021
• Docket Number: No. CR-20-349,CR-20-349
• Citation: 2021 Ark. App. 259
• Parties: CHADWICK STAGGS APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals

2021 Ark. App. 259

CHADWICK STAGGS APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE

No. CR-20-349

ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION III

May 26, 2021

APPEAL FROM THE POPE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

[NO. 58CR-19-747]

HONORABLE WILLIAM PEARSON, JUDGE

AFFIRMED

RAYMOND R. ABRAMSON, Judge

Chadwick Staggs appeals his conviction of possession of methamphetamine with the purpose to deliver. He was sentenced to fifty-five years' imprisonment. On appeal, Staggs argues that the circuit court (1) erred by denying his directed-verdict motion, (2) abused its discretion by admitting bags of methamphetamine into evidence, (3) abused its discretion by denying his motion for a continuance, (4) abused its discretion and violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel of his choice by denying his motion to dismiss his counsel, (5) violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by holding a reconstruction hearing without the physical presence of his counsel, and (6) violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by holding a pretrial hearing without his counsel. We affirm.

On August 2, 2019, the State charged Staggs with possession of at least 10 grams but less than 200 grams of methamphetamine with the purpose to deliver. On August 21, the court set an attorney-status hearing for September 19, a pretrial hearing for October 21, and a trial for November 5. At the September 19 hearing, Staggs's private counsel appeared for him.

At the October 21 pretrial hearing, his counsel again appeared, but Staggs failed to appear. Counsel informed the court that he had been unable to communicate with Staggs. The court issued a bench warrant for Staggs's failure to appear.

On November 7, Staggs's counsel moved to recall the warrant stating that Staggs had mistakenly believed that he needed to appear for court only on November 5, not October 21. Counsel explained that Staggs had "contacted [him] as soon as he could and notified [him] of the mistake." On December 11, the court set a pretrial hearing for February 10 and a trial for February 18, 2020. On December 23, 2019, the court granted Staggs's motion to recall the warrant.

The court held the pretrial hearing on February 10, 2020, which Staggs attended; however, the court did not make a record of it.¹ At a later reconstruction hearing, Staggs testified that his counsel failed to appear for the February 10 hearing. He stated that he requested a continuance so that he could travel to Little Rock to meet with his counsel andprepare for trial. The court advised him that his counsel needed to file a formal motion. Staggs's trial counsel also testified at the reconstruction hearing that he did not attend the pretrial hearing.

The case proceeded to a jury trial on February 18. At the beginning of the trial, Staggs's counsel requested a continuance. He asserted that the State planned to introduce seven bags² of methamphetamine but that only one of the bags had been tested. He argued "the difference between something coming back positive on one and coming back on all of them is nearly 60 years prison." He further apologized for the untimeliness of his motion and explained that he had received the testing results the week prior and that he had been in a trial in Phillips County.

The court denied Staggs's continuance motion, finding the motion untimely and that it lacked an affidavit. The court further noted that counsel had appeared forty minutes late for trial and that a jury had already been qualified.

The court then read the information to the jury when Staggs interrupted and informed the court that he wanted to dismiss his attorney. Staggs stated that he had been unable to contact him and that they had not discussed the case. Staggs's counsel agreed and stated that he was unprepared to proceed. The court denied Staggs's request and stated that continuances had already been granted, the trial had been previously scheduled, and theyhad had time to prepare for trial. The court also stated that Staggs and his counsel could confer during breaks. The court proceeded with trial.

Officer Ronald Wescott testified that he initiated a traffic stop of Staggs, who consented to a search of his person and his car. During Wescott's search of Staggs, he located a knife and a roll of cash. During his search of Staggs's car, he found a family-sized M&Ms bag in the backseat. The M&Ms bag contained multiple small clear plastic bags and a digital scale. He also found a syringe in the center console and a crystal-like shard on the driver's seat. Wescott stated that he used a field-test kit on the shard and that it tested positive for methamphetamine.

Wescott explained that after he had discovered these items, Staggs admitted to him that he had been selling methamphetamine for a man in Clarksville. Wescott then transported Staggs to the Pope County Detention Center, and he stated that during transport, Staggs admitted that he had "a lot" of "meth" on him. He then removed a large bag containing a white crystal-like substance from his pants. Wescott testified that he did not open the "big bag" and that he released the items found in the search to Mike Evans of the drug task force. The prosecutor introduced the methamphetamine as State's exhibits 2A and 2B without objection.

Evans testified that he received a digital scale, small bags, and methamphetamine from Wescott. As to the bag of methamphetamine, Evans stated that

[t]his is the bag that all of this was inside. So that is an individual bag that that methamphetamine was inside of, and all of those were combined with these and I placed them all inside of that one bag.

The prosecutor asked Evans, "When you got it, State's Exhibit 2A and 2B were combined all in one bag?" Evans responded, "Yes." He explained that he "weighed it all together, so all of that inside of one bag" and the bag totaled 45.5 grams. He also testified that he met with Staggs and that Staggs admitted that he had been selling methamphetamine for a man in Clarksville.

Nicholas Lowe testified that he works for the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory and that he received one large bag that contained nine smaller bags each containing a white crystal-like substance. He stated that he analyzed the bag with the largest amount of the substance and that the bag contained 12.7463 grams of methamphetamine. Lowe explained that the laboratory policy is to test only to sustain the highest charge in a case and that Arkansas has a statutory weight range from 10 grams to 200 grams.

Following Lowe's testimony, Staggs moved for a directed verdict and argued that the State had "not made the prima facie case for attempt to deliver." The court denied the motion.

Staggs then testified and admitted that he possessed methamphetamine when Wescott detained him. He noted that he had purchased the methamphetamine in "several bags" because he just "bought everything he had." He planned to "stash them all in different spots" to conceal them from his mother. He stated that he is a heavy methamphetamine user and that he had been using the drug for almost twenty years. He, however, denied selling methamphetamine. He testified that he did not own the car and that a female passenger hadtossed the M&Ms bag in the backseat earlier that day. On cross-examination by the State, Staggs further admitted that he had been convicted of possession of methamphetamine in 2010 and 2015. Following Staggs's testimony, he renewed his directed-verdict motion, and the court again denied it.

The jury convicted Staggs, and he was sentenced to fifty-five years' imprisonment. Staggs appealed his conviction to this court.

On December 2, 2020, we remanded the case to the circuit court to reconstruct the record for the February 10, 2020 pretrial hearing. On remand, the circuit court set a reconstruction hearing for December 16, 2020, but it continued the hearing to December 28 because Staggs was quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure.

On December 28, the circuit court held the reconstruction hearing. Staggs's appellate counsel appeared by videoconference because he had tested positive for COVID-19. Counsel requested a continuance until he could be physically present in the courtroom for the hearing, and he argued that Staggs's Sixth Amendment right to counsel included the physical presence of counsel. The court denied the request. The court noted that Staggs was present in the courtroom and could hear and see counsel. It further offered accommodations for Staggs and his counsel to communicate. The record of the reconstruction hearing was thereafter lodged with this court. We now turn to the merits of the appeal.

On appeal, Staggs first argues that the circuit court erred by denying his directed-verdict motion. He argues that the State presented insufficient evidence that he possessed the methamphetamine with the purpose to deliver. He claims that the evidence showed thathe intended to only consume the drug. He further cites Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-64-420(a) (Repl. 2016) and asserts that none of the statutory factors apply here. He acknowledges that Wescott located bags and a scale in the car, but he argues that he did not own the car and that the items were found in the backseat. He also acknowledges that he has prior convictions for possession of smaller quantities of methamphetamine, but he points out that he has no convictions involving drug-related transactions.

We treat a motion for a directed verdict as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Armstrong v. State, 2020 Ark. 309, 607 S.W.3d 491. In reviewing a sufficiency challenge, we assess the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and consider only the evidence that supports the verdict. Id. We will affirm a judgment of conviction if substantial evidence exists to support it. Id. Substantial evidence is evidence that is of sufficient force and character that it will, with reasonable certainty, compel a conclusion one way or the other without resorting to speculation or conjecture. Id. Circumstantial...