Pittman v. State

430 S.E.2d 141, 208 Ga. App. 211, 1993 Ga. App. LEXIS 469
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided March 17, 1993·No. A92A1782·Published·Cited by 26 cases

Opinion

Andrews, Judge.

Pittman was indicted for possession of cocaine with’intent to distribute. He was tried and convicted of possession of cocaine and appeals.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, Officer Hall with the Bibb County Sheriffs Department testified that on March 1, 1991, he received information from a confidential informer that a Quinn Mason was bringing more than ten pounds of cocaine from California to Macon. A second informer called Officer Hall at about 2:40 p.m. that same day and told him that Pittman and Anthony James, Quinn’s brother, were transporting the cocaine for Quinn in a borrowed black Peugeot. The informer stated that he had actually seen the cocaine in the Peugeot. The informer told Officer Hall that at 2:30 p.m. the Peugeot was parked on Margaret Street and *212 Anthony James was waiting in the car for someone to come and pick up the cocaine.

Based on this information, Officer Hall went to the supposed location of the car, but did not see a Peugeot. After looking on Margaret Street for the vehicle, he passed Pittman driving the Peugeot. Hall followed the Peugeot and observed Pittman in a parking lot of a gym in the vehicle talking to Quinn Mason. Thereafter Pittman drove off towards the Macon shopping mall and Officer Hall called additional officers to help pursue him.

One of the officers called was Officer Wheat, who testified at trial. He stated as of March 1, 1991, he was familiar with Quinn Mason, Anthony James and Pittman and was told of the March 1, 1991 distribution plan. Wheat responded to Hall’s call and stopped Pittman and searched the vehicle. He observed a pair of tennis shoes on the floorboard of the back seat, behind the driver’s seat. During Wheat’s search he also found $812, $800 of which was in $20 bills in a black tote pouch, which was near the driver’s seat.

Officer MacDonald also testified at trial. He stated that he had performed a follow-up search during which he had discovered 20 grams of cocaine wrapped in a napkin, crammed in the toe of a tennis shoe. The cocaine was damp, was sticking to the napkin, and had shaped to the form of the toe. There was testimony that the dampness indicated that the manufacturing of the crack cocaine from cocaine hydrochloride was recent. There was also testimony that the cocaine would be worth up to $4,000 on the street.

After being arrested, Pittman denied that the shoes were his and said that they belonged to his girl friend’s brother, Anthony James. Pittman did not know to whom the crack cocaine belonged. Pittman told one police officer that he thought he was being “set up.”

Several days , after the arrest, Pittman consented to a polygraph and stipulated that the results therefrom would be admissible at trial. The State presented evidence that Pittman registered “deceptive” on all of the critical questions on the polygraph examinations.

The defense called several witnesses. The owner of the Peugeot, Mark Steven McGowan, testified that he loaned his car to Pittman in February 1991 for a couple of weeks so that Pittman’s out-of-town girl friend would have transportation during her visit. McGowan admitted that he was not well acquainted with Pittman.

Pittman’s girl friend, Sonya Mason, testified. She stated that she presently lives in California and that she came to Macon to visit Pittman in February 1991. She stayed for ten days and left on March 1, 1991, the day Pittman was arrested. She testified that the morning of her March 1 departure, Pittman allowed her brother, Anthony James, to borrow the Peugeot, so that she and Pittman could spend some time alone together. She testified that during this period, she and *213 Pittman went to the mall in Pittman’s Cadillac to look for work-out weights. Pittman did not have enough money to buy the $600 or $700 set. After that, they returned home, went by Pittman’s parents’ store at approximately 1:00 p.m., had lunch at a restaurant and then she began her return trip home. She verified that her brother had a pair of shoes like the ones found in the car.

Anthony James testified. He stated that he and Pittman are friends and that he, his sister, and his brother, Quinton, all came to visit Macon around March 1, 1991. James corroborated his sister’s account of how he borrowed the Peugeot. He said that he borrowed the Peugeot on the morning of March 1 and went to get a friend of his so that they could work out. James said that he had his spa bag and his tennis shoes in the Peugeot with him. He testified that he took the gym bag out of the car, but forgot the shoes. James said that there was no reason to believe that Pittman knew that the shoes, or their hidden contraband, was in the car. When asked who put the cocaine in the shoe and to whom the cocaine belonged, James pled the Fifth Amendment. Nevertheless, he stated that he did not learn there was any cocaine in the shoes until after Pittman was arrested.

Defendant’s mother testified at trial. She stated both that she gave Pittman the $800 which was found in the vehicle and that she did not give him that money. Defendant’s father also testified.

Pittman testified at trial. His testimony was consistent with James’. He stated that the shoes found in the car were not his, that he did not know who the owner of the cocaine was and that the money was intended for buying work-out equipment.

1. In his first enumeration of error, Pittman claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict and his motion for a new trial in that the evidence of constructive possession was outweighed by the evidence of equal access. He also argues that the evidence to convict him was insufficient. This enumeration is without merit. Furthermore, we find that the evidence to convict was sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

2. In Pittman’s second enumeration of error, he claims that the trial court erred in its charge to the jury on various aspects of constructive possession in that taken as a whole, the charge was confusing and burden-shifting. He also argues that the charge should have included instructions regarding equal access.

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Pittman v. State, 430 S.E.2d 141, 208 Ga. App. 211, 1993 Ga. App. LEXIS 469 (Ga. Ct. App. 1993).

430 S.E.2d 141 (Pittman v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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