State v. Garrison

860 P.2d 610, 10 Haw. App. 1, 1993 Haw. App. LEXIS 50
CourtHawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 8, 1993
DocketNO. 15988
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 860 P.2d 610 (State v. Garrison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Garrison, 860 P.2d 610, 10 Haw. App. 1, 1993 Haw. App. LEXIS 50 (hawapp 1993).

Opinion

[4]*4OPINION OF THE COURT BY

HEEN, J.

We affirm Defendant-Appellant Ronald H. Garrison’s (Defendant) conviction on four counts of promoting a dangerous drug in the second degree. Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 712-1242(1)(c) (Supp. 1992).

HRS § 712-1242(1)(c) provides:

Promoting a dangerous drug in the second degree. (1) A person commits the offense of promoting a dangerous drug in the second degree if the person knowingly:
* * *
(c) Distributes any dangerous drug in any amount.

Defendant’s conviction came after the second jury trial of the charges against him. The first trial ended in a mistrial when the jury could not agree on a verdict. In the second trial, a Honolulu Police Department undercover officer testified that on four occasions in a dark bar in downtown Honolulu he purchased cocaine from Defendant, either directly or through an intermediary. In the transactions, Defendant agreed to sell the undercover officer a “paper,” the street term for a packet of cocaine, or “girl,” another street term for cocaine itself. Although the narcotics were introduced in evidence during the first trial, they were not introduced in the second trial. We do not know whether they were available for the second trial.

[5]*5In attacking his conviction, Defendant raises several meritless arguments, which we will discuss seriatim.

1.

Defendant first asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal at the end of the State’s case.

The question is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, while giving full play to the fact finder’s right to weigh the evidence, determine credibility, and draw justifiable inferences of fact, a reasonable mind might fairly conclude guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Yamashiro, 8 Haw. App. 595, 817 P.2d 123 (1991).

a.

Defendant argues that the evidence was not of sufficient quality and probative value to support the verdicts because the narcotics he allegedly distributed were not introduced into evidence.

State v. Schofill, 63 Haw. 77, 621 P.2d 364 (1980), is dispositive of Defendant’s first argument. As in the present case, the defendant in Schofill was also charged with knowingly distributing cocaine after he agreed to sell cocaine to an undercover police officer. However, the transaction was called off after the defendant attempted to deliver four packets containing less than the agreed amount of cocaine. When the case was presented to the grand jury, the undercover police officer testified that, based on his past experience with cocaine, the white powdery substance in the packets looked like cocaine. After the jury returned a true bill, the defendant moved to dismiss the indictment. The trial court granted the motion on the ground, inter alia, that the State’s grand [6]*6jury evidence was “incompetent and prejudicial.” Id. at 78, 621 P.2d at 366. The supreme court reversed the trial court, holding that, in accordance with the definition of the term “to distribute” in HRS § 712-1240 (1985),1 “the crime of promoting a dangerous drug by distributing the same is complete where, with the specific intent to sell, the accused has offered to sell the contraband.” Id. 63 Haw. at 81, 621 P.2d at 368.

The evidence in this case was stronger than that in Schofill. Here, the undercover officer testified that Defendant had agreed to sell him cocaine, that he was familiar with cocaine, and that the substances Defendant delivered to him on the four occasions appeared to be cocaine or cocaine resin. That evidence was sufficient to prove distribution, and it was not necessary to introduce the cocaine itself into evidence.

b.

Defendant further contends, however, that the State failed to prove that he had the specific intent to distribute the narcotics. He argues that “the specific intent to sell cannot be inferred by an offer.” Defendant’s actions in this case clearly support an inference of specific intent. Id.

[7]*7c.

Defendant also contends that the undercover officer’s identification of Defendant was faulty because Defendant is black and the transactions allegedly took place in a dark saloon where there were many other black or dark-skinned men.

However, the undercover officer’s testimony indicates that all the transactions took place at very close range. Consequently, it cannot be said that the evidence of Defendant’s identity was insufficient.

2.

Defendant next argues that the trial court erred in denying his requested instruction outlining at length a number of factors that could affect the accuracy of the undercover officer’s identification of Defendant which the jury should consider when appraising the officer’s identification testimony.

The factors listed in the instruction can undoubtedly affect the accuracy of a witness’s identification of a defendant in any given situation. However, the instruction included the following factors that were not supported by any evidence: whether the absence or presence of other members of Defendant’s race in the courtroom could have affected the witness’s identification; the witness’s emotional state; the witness’s capacity to observe; any exchange of information between witnesses; any racial difference between the witness and Defendant; the frequency of contacts between the witness and people of Defendant’s race if their races were different; any inconsistency in the identification testimony of any identification witnesses; and whether other independent evidence has been introduced bearing on identification.

[8]*8Since there was no evidence in the trial that could have assisted the jury in evaluating the effect of those factors on the accuracy of the identification testimony, it was not an abuse of discretion to refuse the instruction. See State v. Lincoln, 3 Haw. App. 107, 643 P.2d 807 (1982).

Citing State v. O’Daniel, 62 Haw. 518, 616 P.2d 1383 (1980), Defendant also argues that he was entitled to the instruction because it related to his defense — identification. However, the court gave other instructions that adequately covered the factors the jury should consider in judging the credibility of the witnesses. Those factors were applicable to the identification testimony, and the court’s instructions provided sufficient basis for defense counsel to argue to the jury all of the pertinent factors listed in the proposed instruction.

3.

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the photographic lineup which was exhibited to the undercover officer in an out-of-court identification of Defendant because the State failed to prove a chain of custody of the photographs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
860 P.2d 610, 10 Haw. App. 1, 1993 Haw. App. LEXIS 50, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-garrison-hawapp-1993.