State v. Cooper

736 S.W.2d 125, 1987 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 2259
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJune 8, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by353 cases

This text of 736 S.W.2d 125 (State v. Cooper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Cooper, 736 S.W.2d 125, 1987 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 2259 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

JONES, Judge.

The defendants, Fred A. Cooper, Jr., Wayne A. Cooper, and Deirdre Elizabeth Cate, were convicted of the felonious possession of marijuana and cocaine with the intent to manufacture, deliver or sell, each offense being alleged in a separate count of the indictment. The trial judge found that all three defendants were standard offenders, and imposed Range I sentences. The trial judge sentenced Fred A. Cooper, Jr., and Wayne A. Cooper as follows: a fine of $3,000 and confinement in the Department of Corrections for a period of three (3) years for the felonious possession of marijuana, as alleged in Count I of the indictment, and a fine of $15,000 and confinement in the Department of Corrections for a period of five (6) years for the felonious possession of cocaine, as alleged in Count II of the indictment. These sentences were ordered to be served concurrently. The trial judge sentenced Deirdre Elizabeth Cate to pay a fine of $3,000 and serve one (1) year in the Department of Corrections for the felonious possession of marijuana, as alleged in Count I of the indictment, and to pay a fine of $7,500 and serve four (4) years in the Department of Corrections for the felonious possession of cocaine, as alleged in Count II of the indictment. These sentences were ordered to be served concurrently as well. After the trial court denied their motions for a new trial the defendants appealed as of right to this Court pursuant to Rule 3(b), Tenn.R.App.P.

In this Court the Coopers raise five issues. They contend: (a) the evidence is insufficient to sustain their respective convictions; (b) the trial judge should have dismissed the entire jury venire after a panel member made a series of prejudicial and inflammatory remarks in the presence of the entire jury venire; (c) the trial court committed error in denying their motion to suppress evidence; (d) they were denied their right to discovery when the trial court refused to order the State of Tennessee to permit the defendants to inspect, copy and/or hear certain tape recordings made by the agents during alleged drug buys at *127 the home of the defendants; and (e) the trial court committed error in overruling their objection to the testimony of the toxicologist regarding the “usual purity” of the cocaine sent to the laboratory for testing.

The defendant, Deirdre Elizabeth Cate, raises three basic issues in this Court. She contends: (a) the evidence is insufficient to sustain her conviction; (b) the trial court committed error in denying her motions for judgment of acquittal made at the conclusion of the State’s proof as well as at the conclusion of all the proof; and (c) the assistant district attorney general committed error during summation when he misstated the facts concerning the seizure of paraphernalia used in connection with the ingestion of cocaine.

THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In August of 1985 agents of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation commenced an investigation into drug trafficking in Roane County. The investigation centered upon Fred A. Cooper, Jr. and his son, Wayne A. Cooper.

On four or five occasions the agents sent someone to the Coopers’ house trailer to purchase marijuana. On each occasion the person visiting the trailer was “wired” for sound and discussed the purchase of marijuana with someone at the trailer. A female voice was neither heard nor recorded on any of the visits. The name of a female, more particularly, Ms. Cate, never surfaced during the course of the investigation.

On the evening of December 30, 1986, T.B.I. Agent Lewis obtained a search warrant authorizing Lewis and other law enforcement officers to search the Coopers’ house trailer, out-buildings situated on the premises, and vehicles parked on the premises. The warrant was executed the following morning at approximately 8:00 a.m.

The Coopers’ house trailer contained two bedrooms. The bedrooms were separated by a bathroom. Wayne A Cooper occupied the front bedroom. Fred A. Cooper, Jr. occupied the back bedroom. When the officers arrived to execute the search warrant, they were met at the front door by the Coopers. Ms. Cate, who was apparently still asleep, was found lying on a bed in the back bedroom. A child, approximately four years of age, was also found in the trailer. While the record does not reveal the identity of the child’s parents, we glean from the record Ms. Cate is the child’s mother.

A search of the premises revealed 5.80 grams of cocaine. Officers found 2.9 grams of cocaine on a shelf in the closet of the front bedroom. An additional 2.85 grams of cocaine was found in Fred A. Cooper’s leather coat, which was hanging near the back door of the trailer. The officers also seized 24.11 pounds of marijuana. The bulk of the marijuana was found in the back bedroom. However, marijuana was also found in the front bedroom, the dining room, and a chicken house. In excess of $8,000 was seized from the Coopers. Fred A. Cooper, Jr. was found in possession of $4,423 and Wayne A. Cooper was found in possession of $4,023.

Both men’s and women’s clothing were found in the back bedroom. The women’s clothing consisted of a “couple of blouses” that were “hanging on the door of the bedroom closet.” There was also a “carryall bag that had various feminine articles in it.”

A search of Ms. Cate’s possessions revealed two separate packets. One packet contained marijuana; and the second packet contained six “roaches”, partially smoked marijuana cigarettes. Agent Lewis stated the combined weight of the contents of the two packets would not exceed ¼ of an ounce. Her purse contained a modest sum of money.

Ms. Cate advised the officers she was a resident of Knoxville, Tennessee, and provided the officers with a Knoxville address.

When a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, this Court must review the record to determine if the evidence adduced at trial is sufficient “to support the finding by the trier of fact of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” *128 Tenn.R.App.P. 13(e). This rule is applicable to findings of guilt based upon direct as well as circumstantial evidence. Farmer v. State, 208 Tenn. 75, 343 S.W.2d 895, 897 (1961); State v. Brown, 551 S.W.2d 329, 331 (Tenn.1977).

In determining the sufficiency of the evidence we do not reweigh or reevaluate the evidence. State v. Cabbage, 571 S.W.2d 832, 835 (Tenn.1978); State v. Hatchett, 560 S.W.2d 627, 630 (Tenn.1978); State v. Grace, 493 S.W.2d 474, 476 (Tenn.1973). Nor may we substitute our inferences for those drawn by the trier of fact in circumstantial evidence case. Liakas v. State, 199 Tenn. 298, 286 S.W.2d 856, 859 (1956); Farmer v. State, 574 S.W.2d 49, 51 (Tenn. Crim.App.1978). To the contrary, we are required to afford the State of Tennessee the strongest legitimate view of the evidence contained in the record as well as all reasonable and legitimate inferences which may be drawn from the evidence. State v. Cabbage, supra.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
736 S.W.2d 125, 1987 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 2259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cooper-tenncrimapp-1987.