Anthony Dwayne Terry v. Commonwealth of Virginia

CourtCourt of Appeals of Virginia
DecidedNovember 26, 2019
Docket1364184
StatusUnpublished

This text of Anthony Dwayne Terry v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Anthony Dwayne Terry v. Commonwealth of Virginia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anthony Dwayne Terry v. Commonwealth of Virginia, (Va. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Present: Chief Judge Decker, Judges Humphreys and Russell UNPUBLISHED

Argued at Winchester, Virginia

ANTHONY DWAYNE TERRY MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY v. Record No. 1364-18-4 CHIEF JUDGE MARLA GRAFF DECKER NOVEMBER 26, 2019 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA Lisa B. Kemler, Judge

Emily R. Beckman (King, Campbell & Poretz, PLLC, on briefs), for appellant.

Katherine Quinlan Adelfio, Assistant Attorney General (Mark R. Herring, Attorney General, on briefs), for appellee.

Anthony Terry appeals his convictions of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and

conspiracy to distribute furanyl fentanyl in violation of Code §§ 18.2-248 and -256. He contends

that these convictions violated his Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy because

they impermissibly punished him multiple times for the same conspiracy, which was only to

distribute heroin. The appellant also argues that the trial court erroneously refused to instruct the

jury that for each conspiracy charge, he and his buyer had to have agreed to distribute each

controlled substance named, specifically fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl. Last, he challenges the

sufficiency of the evidence to prove an agreement underlying the conspiracies to distribute

fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl separate from the conspiracy to distribute heroin. For the reasons

that follow, we affirm the convictions.

* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not designated for publication. I. BACKGROUND1

This case stems from a series of drug sales by the appellant to Robert Hunt. The

purchased substances contained heroin, fentanyl, furanyl fentanyl, or a mixture thereof.2

Hunt testified that he received heroin from the appellant, repackaged it, and resold it.

The pair had an arrangement in which the appellant would “front” Hunt the drugs and Hunt

would repay him after selling them. Hunt testified that his agreement with the appellant was to

sell heroin only, not fentanyl or furanyl fentanyl. He expressly disavowed that he knew at the

time of the enterprise that the appellant was providing him with either of those two substances.

He explained that he repeatedly insisted to the appellant that he did not want any fentanyl and

that the appellant continually reassured him that he did not sell him any.

At the close of the Commonwealth’s evidence and again at the close of all the evidence,

the appellant made motions to strike the conspiracy counts for distribution of fentanyl and

furanyl fentanyl. The trial court denied the motions.

The parties and the trial court discussed the jury instructions. The appellant objected to

two of the Commonwealth’s finding instructions. He argued that the judge should inform the

jury that it could find him guilty of the two charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and

1 On appeal of challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction and constitutional issues, appellate courts view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. Peters v. Commonwealth, 66 Va. App. 743, 745 n.1 (2016) (reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence); Commonwealth v. Davis, 290 Va. 362, 368-69 (2015) (considering a constitutional question). However, in reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a proposed jury instruction, “we view the evidence in the light most favorable” to the instruction’s proponent, in this case the appellant. Landeck v. Commonwealth, 59 Va. App. 744, 759 (2012) (quoting Commonwealth v. Vaughn, 263 Va. 31, 33 (2002)). Consequently, this opinion sets out all of the evidence relevant to the issues before the Court. 2 Experts on behalf of the Commonwealth testified about the different controlled substances at issue in this case. One forensic scientist explained that heroin is a natural opiate and fentanyl is a synthetic one. Another testified that furanyl fentanyl is fentanyl but with a “slight change in the molecule.” A police detective testified that synthetic opioids are more potent than heroin but cost significantly less to produce. -2- furanyl fentanyl only if it found that he and Hunt had agreed to distribute those two specific

substances. The trial court overruled the objections and gave the instructions.

After deliberation, the jury found the appellant guilty of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl,

conspiracy to distribute furanyl fentanyl, conspiracy to distribute heroin, possession of fentanyl

with the intent to distribute, and possession of furanyl fentanyl with the intent to distribute. The

appellant was sentenced to a total of eighty-six years in prison.

II. ANALYSIS

On appeal, Terry challenges his convictions for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and

furanyl fentanyl. He argues that those convictions violate his right against double jeopardy. The

appellant also suggests that they were obtained through erroneous jury instructions. Finally, he

challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions for conspiracy to distribute

fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl.

A. Double Jeopardy

The appellant contends that his constitutional right against double jeopardy was violated

when he received multiple punishments for a single offense of conspiracy to distribute a

controlled substance. Before addressing the merits of the double jeopardy assignment of error,

we must consider whether the appellant raised at trial a double jeopardy challenge to his

convictions for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute furanyl fentanyl.

Rule 5A:18 makes clear that “[n]o ruling of the trial court . . . will be considered as a

basis for reversal unless an objection was stated with reasonable certainty at the time of the

ruling, except for good cause shown or to enable the Court of Appeals to attain the ends of

justice.” Additionally, “[n]ot just any objection will do.” Thomas v. Commonwealth, 44

Va. App. 741, 750, adopted upon reh’g en banc, 45 Va. App. 811 (2005). “Making one specific

argument on an issue does not preserve a separate legal point on the same issue for [appellate]

-3- review.” Johnson v. Commonwealth, 58 Va. App. 625, 637 (2011) (quoting Edwards v.

Commonwealth, 41 Va. App. 752, 760 (2003) (en banc), aff’d by unpub’d order, No. 040019

(Va. Oct. 15, 2004)); see Bethea v. Commonwealth, __ Va. __, __ (Aug. 28, 2019) (“[N]either

an appellant nor an appellate court should ‘put a different twist on a question that is at odds with

the question presented to the trial court.’” (quoting Commonwealth v. Shifflett, 257 Va. 34, 44

(1999))). Instead, Rule 5A:18 requires a litigant to articulate an objection with specificity “so

that the trial judge . . . know[s] the particular point being made” and has the opportunity to rule

on it. Thomas, 44 Va. App. at 750; see Edwards, 41 Va. App. at 760.

In addition to these general principles, the Code requires specific measures for certain

types of motions. See, e.g., Code § 19.2-266.2. Relevant here, a defense motion seeking

dismissal of a charge based on a double jeopardy violation is required to be made in writing

before trial. Code § 19.2-266.2(A)(ii)(b), (B); Williams v. Commonwealth, 57 Va. App. 750,

768 (2011), cited with approval in Meyers v. Commonwealth, No. 150962, at *10 (Va. Jan. 12,

2017) (unpublished order), cert. denied 138 S. Ct. 999 (2018); see also Rule 3A:9(c) (requiring a

motion raising double jeopardy to be made before trial).

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