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State v. Cobb12/2/1999
The appellant, Cecil U. Cobb, Jr., was convicted by a Sullivan County jury of the misdemeanor offenses of possession of Dihydrocodeinone, a Schedule III controlled substance; simple possession of marijuana; failure to obey a traffic signal; and driving under the influence of an intoxicant. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of twenty-three months, twenty-eight days. On appeal, the appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for each of his four convictions and the chain of custody related to the possession of the marijuana and Schedule III drugs.
After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
BACKGROUND
Around 2:00 a.m. on May 30, 1997, Lieutenant Bob Abernathy of the Kingsport Police Department was dispatched to Ralph's Bar and Grill to investigate an activated security alarm. When the police called the restaurant to verify the alarm, a voice on the other end cursed them and hung up the telephone. The business owner, Ralph Barrett, was advised of the situation and met the lieutenant and two other officers at the scene. No visible signs of a burglary were observed, however, a white Chevrolet Cavalier was located in the parking lot.
Upon entering the building, Lieutenant Abernathy observed the appellant emerge from a room behind the bar. The lieutenant attempted to elicit the appellant's name to which the appellant responded "Stubby, 357." The officers noted the appellant's odor of alcohol, his bloodshot eyes, and his "uncooperative" nature. The appellant advised Barrett that he had been drinking. Barrett explained to the officers that the appellant was employed as a cook at the restaurant, that he had a key to the building, and that he had occasionally slept in the back room. Because Barrett permitted the appellant to remain in the restaurant and no other patrons were around, the officers did not remove the appellant from the premises even though he was obviously intoxicated. The officers instructed the appellant not to leave the building. Mr. Barrett stayed behind to speak further with the appellant.
Following the investigation of the alarm call, Kingsport Police Officer Rusty Wallace testified that he drove west, two tenths of a mile, on Stone Drive and pulled off the road into Trader's Village to fill out a report. A few minutes later, Officer Wallace observed a white car, which appeared to be the same car he had previously noticed in the parking lot at Ralph's Bar and Grill, traveling at approximately sixty-five to seventy mph in a fifty-five mph speed zone. Initiating pursuit, the officer observed the vehicle speed through a red light "at the intersection of the exit ramps from John B. Dennis and Stone Drive," without even touching the brakes. After barely negotiating the ramp, the appellant pulled over to the shoulder of the road. Upon approaching the vehicle, Officer Wallace recognized the driver as the person he had seen inside Ralph's Bar and Grill approximately fifteen minutes earlier.
The officer noticed the odor of alcohol and ordered the appellant out of the vehicle. The appellant admitted that he drank a couple of beers earlier. When asked to recite the alphabet, he stopped at the letter "G" and then said "and the rest of them." He declined to perform any other field sobriety tests. At this point, the appellant was arrested and transported to the Kingsport City Jail.
At the jail, the appellant refused to sign an implied consent form. Officer Wallace delivered the appellant to the jailer, Mike Hickman, for booking. Upon searching the appellant, Officer Hickman found a "baggie" of marijuana and twelve pills wrapped separately in cellophane in the appellant's pants pocket.
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