Adamov v. State

536 N.E.2d 281, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 103, 1989 WL 34885
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedApril 3, 1989
Docket45S00-8803-CR-333
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 536 N.E.2d 281 (Adamov v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adamov v. State, 536 N.E.2d 281, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 103, 1989 WL 34885 (Ind. 1989).

Opinion

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

A jury found Robert Adamov guilty of dealing in a narcotic drug of more than three grams, a class A felony. Ind.Code § 35-48-4-1(2) (Burns 1985 Repl.). They also found he was an habitual offender. Ind.Code § 35-50-2-8 (Burns 1985 Repl.). The trial court sentenced Adamov to 70 years in prison. Adamov appeals, and we affirm.

In October 1986, police received information from a confidential informant about a heroin dealer working out of a basement in East Chicago. The police entered the basement and saw Adamov with three to six other people in the room. When Adamov saw the police, he immediately rose from his chair near a coffee table and threw a plastic bag to his left.

The police recovered the bag. It contained 37 balloons, some of which had spilled from the bag when Adamov threw it. The balloons contained heroin wrapped in tin foil. Each balloon contained one-tenth to two-tenths of a gram of heroin. The total weight of the heroin was in excess of three grams. An expert on illegal narcotics activities testified that the value of the 37 balloons containing heroin was $555. The expert also testified that, in his experience, he had heard of heroin users consuming up to $250 of heroin a day.

Police arrested Adamov and found $510.20 in his possession. Police also *283 found three $20 bills on the floor near Adamov’s chair along with syringes and “cooking caps.” They recovered a .22 caliber revolver from the chair in which Ada-mov had been seated.

After Adamov and the other suspects were arrested and removed, police arrested more than 15 additional people who knocked on the basement door and uttered a type of code. Each person who did so was arrested for visiting a common nuisance.

Adamov raises four issues in this direct appeal:

I. Whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Adamov on the element of intent to deliver;
II. Whether the trial court erred in failing to order the State to disclose the identity of its confidential informant;
III. Whether the trial court erred in failing to declare a mistrial when a witness characterized those arriving after the arrest as coming to “make their purchases”; and,
IV. Whether the evidence was sufficient evidence to find Adamov was an habitual offender? A person who: (2) [possesses, with intent to ... deliver ... a narcotic drug, pure or adulterated, classified in schedule I ... commits dealing in ... a narcotic drug ... a class A felony if the amount of the drug involved weighs three (3) grams or more_ Ind. Code § 35-48-4-1 (Emphasis added.)

I. Intent to Deliver

Adamov argues that the evidence failed to support a reasonable inference that he possessed the drugs “with intent to deliver,” such an intent being an element of the crime under Ind.Code § 35-48-4-1(2). Specifically, Adamov asserts that the quantity of drugs in his possession was not great enough to permit the necessary inference. He also argues that additional facts in evidence had no probative value and prejudiced his defense. Those facts are: Adamov was seated in the only chair in the room in front of a table with other people standing nearby; money was found in his possession ($570.20) and on the floor (three $20 bills); some syringes and “cooking caps” were on the floor; a gun was found in the chair Adamov occupied.

The statute under which Adamov was charged reads:

In any review for sufficiency, we do not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses. We consider only the evidence most favorable to the verdict and any reasonable inferences which may be drawn from that evidence. When substantial evidence of probative value supports the verdict, the finding of the trier of fact will not be disturbed. Alfaro v. State (1985), Ind., 478 N.E.2d 670.

For purposes of review on this particular element, circumstantial evidence of possession with intent to deliver may support the conviction. The possession of a large amount of narcotics is circumstantial evidence of intent to deliver. The more narcotics a defendant possessed, the stronger the inference that he intended it for delivery and not for personal consumption. See Mason v. State (1989), Ind., 532 N.E.2d 1169 (review for sufficiency on element of intent to deliver in Ind.Code § 35-48-4-2).

The evidence presented was sufficient to support a reasonable inference of guilt on the element of intent to deliver. The heroin in Adamov’s possession was valued at $555, was in excess of three grams, and was in 37 balloons, each containing one-tenth to two-tenths of a gram. In Mason, this Court held the evidence sufficient where the defendant possessed $375 worth of a narcotic, which weighed slightly more than three grams and was contained in 30 separate packets. The Court in Mason also reviewed other circumstantial evidence, which was similar to the evidence in the case at bar. Any further evaluation of this evidence, as the appellant urges us to do, would merely be reweighing the evidence.

II. Disclosure of Confidential Informant

Adamov asserts that the trial court erred by failing to order the State to disclose the identity of its confidential infor *284 mant. Adamov submits that he met this Court’s test for compelling disclosure.

Prior to the raid on the basement, the informant told the police that Adamov sold him a balloon containing heroin in that basement. Adamov asserts that the confidential informant may have testifed that he did not know Adamov and, therefore, misidentified Adamov as the seller. Adamov also states that the confidential informant may have testified that Adamov was not present when he purchased the balloon or that he observed Adamov as a customer rather than a seller. Adamov asserts that the confidential informant’s involvement in this case, especially as an eyewitness, was far more than the involvement of the informants in the analogous cases of Brafford v. State (1987), Ind., 516 N.E.2d 45, and Lewandowski v. State (1979), 271 Ind. 4, 389 N.E.2d 706. Adamov also argues that the confidential informant was the “sole potential source of significant, exculpatory evidence.” We disagree.

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Bluebook (online)
536 N.E.2d 281, 1989 Ind. LEXIS 103, 1989 WL 34885, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adamov-v-state-ind-1989.