Stokes v. State

801 N.E.2d 1263, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 63, 2004 WL 99150
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 22, 2004
Docket49A02-0212-CR-1081
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 801 N.E.2d 1263 (Stokes v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stokes v. State, 801 N.E.2d 1263, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 63, 2004 WL 99150 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Defendant, Gerald L. Stokes (Stokes), appeals his convictions for Count I, conspiracy to commit dealing in cocaine, a Class A felony, Ind.Code § 35-48-4-1, and Count II, dealing in cocaine or narcotics, a Class A felony, I.C. § 35-48-4-1.

We affirm.

ISSUES

Stokes raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as follows:

(1) Whether the trial court erred by allowing the jury to view exhibits after deliberations began; and
(2) Whether there was sufficient evidence to sustain his convictions.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 15, 2002, Indianapolis Police Department officers and detectives (collectively, "IPD officers") conducted an investigation for illegal drug activity in the 48300 block of North Crittenden Street. The IPD officers focused their investigation on the residences at 4840 and 4846 North Crittenden Street. 1 Indianapolis Police Department Detective Thomas Stout (Detective Stout) obtained permission from the resident across the street and in between 4844 and 4346 North Crittenden Street to set up video surveillance in that residence. From this vantage point across the street from the targeted residences, Detective Stout videotaped any suspicious activity he observed in the area of those residences, and he informed the other IPD officers by police radio as to what he observed.

During his surveillance, Detective Stout observed Adrian Riggs (Riggs) 2 leave the porch at 4840 North Crittenden when a white female approached the residence. Riggs then walked with the female into the side door at 4846 North Crittenden. Shortly thereafter, when the white female exited from the side door at 4846 North Crittenden, her left hand was cupped as if she was holding something. Detective Stout further noticed Riggs twisting a plastic baggie into a knot.

Detective Stout observed Stokes sitting on the porch at 4340 North Crittenden and talking with an unidentified person. A heavy-set black female wearing a loose fitting blue shirt, striped pants, and a blue *1267 floppy hat pulled up to the 4840 North Crittenden residence in a car, with an unidentified male in the passenger seat. The woman exited the car and approached Stokes. Stokes and the woman walked to the back corner on the side of the 4344 North Crittenden residence. Once Stokes and the woman were in this location, Detective Stout could no longer view them. However, within a couple of seconds, Stokes reappeared. Detective Stout observed Stokes bring his left hand up to his mouth and biting off a piece of something.

Next, Riggs walked up to Stokes and stood next to him. An unidentified black male then approached Riggs. The man held out his right hand while Riggs was doing something with his hands. Thereafter, Riggs and the unidentified man made a hand-to-hand exchange, with Riggs putting something in the man's hand and the man in turn giving something to Riggs. When Riggs turned around, Detective Stout observed him twisting a plastic baggie.

In the meantime, Stokes went back into the area where he initially went with the black female in the blue floppy hat. When Stokes came back into the vicinity where Riggs was, the two men had a verbal exchange. Riggs handed something to Stokes and he placed it in his pocket. Detective Stout then observed Stokes counting money, with Riggs standing immediately behind him. Afterwards, Riggs and Stokes returned to the porch at the 4340 North Crittenden residence. The car with the black female, the black male, and one other unidentified person drove away.

Later that evening, the black female in the blue floppy hat returned alone to the 4340 North Crittenden residence. As she approached Stokes, he walked off of the porch to meet her. Stokes and the woman met in the area between 4344 North Crit-tenden and 4346 North Crittenden and walked to the back in between both residences. Stokes and the woman were out of Detective Stout's view for approximately twenty-nine seconds before they reappeared. When they came back into the view of Detective Stout, he observed the woman lift her T-shirt and put something inside of her bra. Stokes then returned to the porch at 4340 North Crittenden, while the woman drove away. Detective Stout notified other IPD officers regarding his observations. Following a traffic stop of the car driven by the woman, Indianapolis Police Department Detective Kincaid (Detective Kincaid) retrieved crack cocaine from inside the woman's bra.

Shortly thereafter, Stokes walked off the porch of 4340 North Crittenden and met with two men in the area between 4844 and 48346 North Crittenden. The men walked from the other half of the double house where Detective Stout was videotaping the transactions, which was across the street from 4844 North Crittenden 3 Stokes and one of the men walked to the rear of 4846 North Crittenden where Detective Stout observed Stokes reach up to the windowsill by the side door and retrieve a white object smaller than a tennis ball 4 Stokes then went directly to the side door of 4346 North Crittenden, *1268 opened the door, and entered the residence together with the other black male. Stokes and the man were inside the residence for approximately one minute and twenty-nine seconds before Detective Stout observed them leave the residence. The man had his left hand in his pocket and Stokes had his right hand cupped as if he was holding something inside of his hand. Stokes then returned to the porch at 4840 North Crittenden while both of the men returned to the other half of the double where Detective Stout was located.

When the IPD officers arrived on the scene, Stokes and Riggs were sitting on the porch of 4840 North Crittenden playing a board game. As the IPD officers approached the residence, Riggs immediately stood up and quickly walked into the residence of 4840 North Crittenden. The IPD officers were given permission to enter the house and did so to apprehend Riggs. As the police searched for Riggs inside of the residence, they found the toilet running in the bathroom. The police found Riggs in the back bedroom. Riggs gave the police a false name when questioned. The IPD officers found approximately $30.00 in Riggs' front left pocket. The IPD officer searched Stokes and found $169.00 on him in small bills.

The IPD officers searched around the porch at 4840 North Crittenden and in between the residences but did not find anything. The IPD officers then entered the side door of the vacant residence at 4346 North Crittenden and briefly searched inside the residence. The IPD officers observed a large number of plastic baggies inside the residence, and eventually located a large plastic bag containing crack cocaine on the windowsill by the side door inside of the residence. The substance was seized and subsequently tested. Laboratory tests showed that it was 48.6239 grams of crack cocaine.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
801 N.E.2d 1263, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 63, 2004 WL 99150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stokes-v-state-indctapp-2004.