State v. Powell

621 N.E.2d 1328, 87 Ohio App. 3d 157, 1993 Ohio App. LEXIS 1795
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 12, 1993
DocketNo. 62072.
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 621 N.E.2d 1328 (State v. Powell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio 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. Powell, 621 N.E.2d 1328, 87 Ohio App. 3d 157, 1993 Ohio App. LEXIS 1795 (Ohio Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

Krupansky, Judge.

Defendant-appellant Darren Leon Powell appeals from his jury convictions for possession of three times the bulk amount of cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(6) with an accompanying firearm specification pursuant to R.C. 2941.-141, trafficking in cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(2), possession of criminal tools (money, gun and pager) in violation of R.C. 2923.24, and carrying a concealed weapon in violation of R.C. 2923.12.

Defendant was indicted by the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury on the four charges March 8, 1990. The charges stem from an incident in the evening of December 19, 1989 when Cleveland police detectives recovered a plastic vial containing ninety-seven rocks of crack cocaine weighing 17.5 grams, a loaded Browning .9mm semi-automatic pistol, a Motorola electronic telephone pager and $435 in unspecified U.S. currency at East 102nd Street and St. Clair Avenue. The case against defendant proceeded to a jury trial commencing April 15, 1991.

The prosecution presented testimony from three witnesses to support the four charges, viz., Cleveland Police narcotics detectives Kenneth Patterson and Mi *160 chael Carosielli, and scientific examiner Charles Sikora. Detective Patterson testified that he was one of a five-member patrol responding on the evening of December 19, 1989 to complaints from the Mayor’s office regarding drug sales and use in the neighborhood of East 102nd Street and St. Clair Avenue in the city of Cleveland. Patterson stated that he and detective Carosielli were passengers in an unmarked 1985 Blue LTD sedan driven by Sgt. Gercar which was followed by detectives Shoulders and Whitney in a separate vehicle.

Patterson stated that the neighborhood of East 102nd Street and St. Clair Avenue is a high drug sales and use area. Patterson stated that while riding east on St. Clair toward the intersection of these two streets, he observed a vehicle parked in the middle of East 102nd Street with its engine running and five males standing near the passenger side. Patterson believed based upon his observations that he was witnessing a drug transaction. Someone yelled “vice” as his undercover police car turned the corner and approached the scene. The vehicle which had been parked in the street hurriedly drove north on East 102nd Street and the five pedestrians departed. Four of the pedestrians fled north on East 102nd Street, and the fifth pedestrian, later identified as defendant, headed east toward a parked car. Detective Patterson testified that he continued observing defendant without interruption and saw defendant drop two objects from his right hand to the ground approximately ten to twelve or fifteen feet in front of the undercover police car.

Detective Carosielli testified that he also observed defendant throw two objects to the ground. Carosielli stated that defendant tossed the first object with his right hand and then reached into his jacket near the waistband and discarded a gun. Carosielli recovered a clear vial with a red cap containing ninety-seven rocks of suspected crack cocaine and a .9mm pistol loaded with thirteen rounds of ammunition including one in the chamber. The objects were under the bumper of a parked car three to four feet from where defendant was apprehended. The officers arrested defendant and discovered an electronic telephone pager and $435 in U.S. currency on his person after conducting a patdown search prior to placing defendant in the unmarked police car.

Charles Sikora, a scientific examiner with the Scientific Investigation Unit (“SIU”), testified that the material contained in the vial recovered by the police and submitted to him weighed a total of 17.5 grams. Sikora stated that he conducted two chemical tests on a representative random sample of ten of the ninety-seven rocks in the vial according to the standard “square root method” and that each sample rock tested positive for cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance. Sikora also testified that he test-fired the .9mm pistol and determined that it was operable. The prosecution rested its case following the *161 introduction into evidence of the plastic vial containing the cocaine, the .9mm pistol, Motorola pager, and SIU lab report.

The defense presented two witnesses following the denial of his Crim.R. 29 motion for judgment of acquittal on all the charges, viz., defendant and his friend, Donna Johnson. Johnson and defendant testified that someone in the vehicle parked in the middle of the street asked defendant if he was interested in purchasing a gun after he left the African Room bar at the corner of East 102nd Street and St. Clair Avenue. According to their testimony, someone yelled “vice” as defendant approached the parked vehicle, and the vehicle and pedestrians fled the scene. Defendant, his companion from the bar Denzel Ward, and Johnson remained on the scene. Defendant denied possessing the plastic vial containing the cocaine or pistol recovered by the police.

The jury returned from its deliberations April 17, 1991 with a verdict finding defendant guilty on all four counts of the indictment, viz.: (1) possession of three times the bulk amount of cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(6) with the accompanying firearm specification pursuant to R.C. 2941.141; (2) trafficking in cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(2); (3) possession of criminal tools (money, gun and pager) in violation of R.C. 2923.24; and (4) carrying a concealed weapon in violation of R.C. 2923.12. The trial court thereafter sentenced defendant to the following concurrent terms of imprisonment, viz.: (1) four to fifteen years on count one with three years’ actual imprisonment; (2) one year on count two; (3) one year on count three; and (4) one and one-half years on count four; in addition to three years’ prior actual incarceration on the firearm specification. Defendant timely appeals raising four assignments of error.

Defendant’s first and second assignments of error raise constitutional questions as follows:

“R.C. § 2925.03(A)(6) and R.C. § 2925.01(E)(1) are unconstitutionally vague and therefore are violative of the Due Process Clauses of the United States and Ohio Constitutions.
“R.C. § 2925.03(A)(6) and R.C. § 2925.01(E)(1) are constitutionally inviolate [sic] as the statutes are violative of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of both the Ohio and the United States Constitutions.”

Defendant’s first and second assignments of error lack merit.

Defendant contends that R.C. 2925.03(A)(6), the statute defining the crime of possessing in excess of three times the bulk amount of a controlled substance, and R.C. 2925.01(E)(1), the statute defining the bulk amount of the controlled substance cocaine, are unconstitutionally vague and violate equal protection since the crime may be based upon either the physical weight or unit dose of the controlled substance possessed by the defendant at the whim of the prosecution.

*162

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
621 N.E.2d 1328, 87 Ohio App. 3d 157, 1993 Ohio App. LEXIS 1795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-powell-ohioctapp-1993.