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Dixon v. Commonwealth11/18/2004
TO BE PUBLISHED
AFFIRMING
Appellant, Roy E. Dixon, was convicted by a Henderson Circuit Court jury of trafficking in a controlled substance in the first degree and sentenced to ten years in prison. Upon finding Appellant to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree, the jury enhanced the sentence to twenty years. Appellant appeals to this court as a matter of right, Ky. Const. § 110(2)(b), asserting two claims of reversible error, viz: (1) the trial court permitted a police officer to express an opinion as to the meaning of markings on a small piece of paper found in the glove compartment of his automobile ; and (2) the trial court admitted into evidence Appellant's admission that he was unemployed after he had invoked his right to counsel. Finding no error, we affirm.
On October 17, 2001, Detective Jamie Duvall and Officer Todd Seibert of the Henderson Police Department were conversing while sitting in their separate police vehicles on a public street when they observed Appellant operating a motor vehicle. Because Duvall knew that Appellant's operator's license had been suspended, he and Seibert proceeded in separate directions with the intention of stopping and detaining Appellant for an apparent violation of KRS 186.620(2). Seibert sighted Appellant's vehicle and pulled his marked police cruiser in behind Appellant's vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex. As Appellant exited his vehicle, Seibert saw him throw a plastic sandwich baggie to the ground. Detective Duvall then arrived, handcuffed Appellant, and placed him in the rear of Seibert's cruiser. The two officers retrieved the plastic baggie and observed that it contained several off-white colored rocks later determined to be crack cocaine. Duvall searched Appellant's automobile and found a small piece of paper in the glove compartment containing the following markings :
V-300
A - 125
B-100
G - 200
G - 100
M - 50
D-S 25 900
Because Duvall believed that the paper reflected "transactions" and "money amounts" the officers took the piece of paper into custody. Cocaine is a Schedule II controlled substance. KRS 218A.070. Mere possession of cocaine is a Class D felony, KRS 218A.1415(2), but possession of cocaine for the purpose of sale is a Class C felony. KRS 218A.1412(1) ; KRS 218A.010(28) ("traffic" includes possession with intent to sell a controlled substance). The piece of paper was introduced at trial as evidence that Appellant possessed the cocaine for the purpose of sale.
Appellant invoked his right to counsel immediately upon his arrest. Subsequently, he was taken to the police station where Duvall asked him the routine questions necessary to complete the Uniform Citation form that is completed after every citation or arrest. The form contains blocks to be filled in with information pertaining to, inter alia, the arrestee's name, address, social security number, marital status, date of birth, sex, race, ethnicity, height, weight, color of hair and eyes, and place of employment. When asked for his place of employment, Appellant responded that he had been unemployed since 1999 and that he had just been released from jail. A search of Appellant's person revealed that he was in possession of $193.00 in cash. At trial, the Commonwealth introduced Appellant's statement that he was unemployed but the trial court suppressed his statements that he had been unemployed since 1999 and that he had just been released from jail. The Commonwealth relied on evidence that Appellant was unemployed but in possession $193.00 in cash as additional circumstantial evidence that he was a dru
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