Gumbs v. People

64 V.I. 491, 2016 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 12
CourtSupreme Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedApril 26, 2016
DocketS. Ct. Criminal No. 2014-0069
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 64 V.I. 491 (Gumbs v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gumbs v. People, 64 V.I. 491, 2016 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 12 (virginislands 2016).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

(April 26, 2016)

SWAN, Associate Justice.

Appellant Mario Gumbs (hereinafter “Gumbs”) appeals from the Virgin Islands Superior Court’s October 29, 2014 judgment and commitment,1 which adjudged him guilty in a two count information, charging possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in violation of 19 V.I.C. § 604(a)(1) and simple possession of marijuana in violation of 19 V.I.C. § 607(a). For the reasons elucidated below, we affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 7, 2013, a multiple agency task force, consisting of the Virgin Islands Police Department (hereinafter “VIPD”), the Drug Enforcement Agency (hereinafter “DEA”), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter “FBI”) and other federal agencies conducted a sting operation at the Lake’s Chicken Fry restaurant (hereinafter “Lake’s”) in Smith Bay, St. Thomas. Armed and wearing raid gear that identified each agency, the officers arrived at Lake’s, parked their cars and formed a semi-circle around the front of the establishment to cordon off the area. While some officers secured the immediate area, another group was inside the cordoned off area conducting an investigation. During their investigation, the agents had unholstered their weapons and verbally instructed everyone in the area to keep their hands visible.

Gumbs, who was hearing impaired, entered the cordoned off area wearing earphones connected to his iPod, a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, jeans and a t-shirt. Upon seeing Gumbs, Agent Richard Dominguez (hereinafter “Agent Dominguez”) of the VIPD and other agents at the scene yelled at Gumbs to stop and remove his hands from his pockets. It [497]*497appeared that Gumbs ignored all commands and kept walking towards the agents who were conducting an investigation in the center of the semi-circle.2 Consequently, Agent Dominguez intercepted Gumbs and took one hand out of Gumbs’ pocket and placed it on top of Gumbs’ head. Gumbs followed by putting his other hand on top of his head.

While Agent Dominguez was performing a pat-down search of Gumbs for weapons, he observed a big, brown bag with a green leafy substance protruding from Gumbs’ front left pocket, which, based on his skills and experience as a police officer, he recognized as marijuana. Agent Dominguez concluded the pat down search, removed the bag containing the green leafy substance from Gumbs’ front left pocket, and arrested him. Upon a further examination of the contents of this bag, Agent Dominguez found 32 additional clear plastic baggies, 28 of which contained a rock-like white substance, and 4 of which contained a white powdery substance.

Agent Dominguez transported Gumbs and the seized bag contents to the police station in Subbase for processing. The events of what happened at the police station in Subbase are disputed by the parties. Agent Dominguez claims that Gumbs was advised of his Miranda rights and opted to waive his constitutional rights and gave a statement. According to Agent Dominguez, in the interview he conducted together with Agent Andrew Niermeier (hereinafter “Agent Niermeier”), Gumbs stated that in 2004 he found a substantial quantity of cocaine on St. John, and since he was unemployed and unable to find employment but needed money, he would take portions of the cocaine and sell it whenever he needed money. Agent Dominguez claims that Gumbs did not reduce this statement to writing. However, Gumbs disputed that he informed the officers that he had sold drugs or had contraband in his possession when he was arrested.

Agent Joseph Reiger (hereinafter “Agent Reiger”), a special agent for the DEA, who was also present at the scene, took custody of the brown bag and its contents from Agent Dominguez at the police station in Subbase. Agent Reiger processed and conducted field tests on the contents of the baggies retrieved from Gumbs, which tested positive for cocaine and marijuana. Agent Reiger then transferred the brown bag, the baggies, [498]*498and all of their respective contents to Agent Niermeier, who stored them overnight between October 7 and October 8, 2013. Agent Reiger then forwarded the brown bag, the baggies, and all of their respective contents, which were labeled as “documents,” via express courier service to the Drug Enforcement Agency Southeastern Laboratory (hereinafter “DEA lab”) in Miami, Florida. An unidentified evidence technician at the DEA lab received the brown bag, the baggies, and all of their respective contents on or about October 9, 2013, before transferring it for further testing. Agent Tyrone Shire (hereinafter “Agent Shire”), a DEA forensic chemist, performed the test analysis of the contents of the brown bag and the baggies, and confirmed that it was cocaine and marijuana. The DEA lab then returned the brown bag, the baggies and all their respective contents directly to Agent Dominguez in St. Thomas.

Before trial, Gumbs made a motion to suppress the contraband which the Superior Court denied. On the eve of trial, Gumbs’ counsel filed a motion to withdraw as counsel. After hearing arguments from both counsel and Gumbs, the Superior Court denied the motion. Gumbs’ trial commenced on September 17, 2014 and ended that same day with verdicts of guilty on all charges.

II. JURISDICTION

Title 4, section 32(a) of the Virgin Islands Code provides, in pertinent part, that “[t]he Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction over all appeals arising from final judgments, final decrees or final orders of the Superior Court, or as otherwise provided by law.” “A final order is a judgment from a court which ends the litigation on the merits, leaving nothing else for the court to do except execute the judgment.” Williams v. People, 55 V.I. 721, 727 (V.I. 2011) (citing In re Truong, 513 F.3d 91, 94 (3d Cir. 2008)). It is well-established that in a criminal case, the written judgment embodying the adjudication of guilt and the sentence imposed based on that adjudication constitutes a final judgment. Williams v. People, 58 V.I. 341, 345 (V.I. 2013); see also Percival v. People, 62 V.I. 477, 483 (V.I. 2015). The October 29, 2014 judgment and commitment ended the criminal proceedings against Gumbs and served as the final order in the case. Accordingly, we have jurisdiction over this appeal.

III. ISSUES AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

On appeal, Gumbs contends that (A) the Superior Court erred in denying his Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of [499]*499simple possession of marijuana and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute because there was insufficient evidence to convict him on either charge; (B) the Superior Court violated his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel when it denied his counsel’s motion to withdraw; (C) the Superior Court violated his Fourth Amendment rights when it denied his motion to suppress the contraband seized from him when he was arrested; and (D) the chemical analysis report should have been excluded from the proceedings because the People violated his rights under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(d) by withholding the report until after the discovery deadline.

We exercise plenary review over sufficiency of the evidence claims, and we interpret the evidence in the light most favorable to the People. Simmonds v.

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Related

Frett v. People
66 V.I. 399 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)
Heyliger v. People
66 V.I. 340 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
64 V.I. 491, 2016 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gumbs-v-people-virginislands-2016.