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Dixon v. State11/9/2001
A jury convicted Willie Dixon of two violations of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act: sale of cocaine, OCGA § 16-13-30, and distribution of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public housing project, OCGA § 16-13-32.5. The trial court denied his motion for new trial. Dixon appeals, contending that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction, that the court erred in refusing to give a requested jury charge and in admitting an alleged statement by Dixon not disclosed prior to trial, and that the indictment was defective. We disagree and affirm the conviction.
On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict. Paul v. State, 231 Ga. App. 528 (499 SE2d 914) (1998). We do not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility but only determine whether the evidence is sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). The verdict must be upheld if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Williams v. State, 233 Ga. App. 217 (1) (504 SE2d 53) (1998).
So viewed, the evidence shows that on June 22, 2000, Officers Tony Pyle and Jay Marquez of the Calhoun Police Department conducted an undercover investigation. The officers engaged a confidential informant, Matthew Lane, to make an undercover drug purchase. They met Lane at the department's drug task force office, where Pyle conducted a routine pre- transaction search of Lane's person, equipped him with a recording device and transmitter, and discussed the investigation with him.
From the drug task force office, Marquez drove Lane to the intersection of Oothacalooga Street and Powell Street. Pyle traveled separately to the same location in a van. Lane informed Marquez that he recognized a potential drug dealer on the porch of a house on Powell Street. The man was later identified by Lane as Dixon. Marquez gave Lane $20 with which to purchase drugs. Lane approached the man while Marquez remained in the car parked in front of the house. The officer observed Lane and the man talking for several minutes.
Lane returned to the vehicle and informed Marquez that he had arranged to make a purchase in approximately five minutes. They drove around the immediate area to wait for the transaction to take place.
During that time, Lane told Marquez that the man with whom he spoke was Dixon. They soon encountered Dixon, who told Lane to exit the car and instructed Marquez to drive down the street. Marquez testified that he drove forward at a very slow speed while he watched the transaction in the rearview mirror. He observed Dixon place something in Lane's hand. When Lane returned to the vehicle, he gave Marquez a "white rock substance" that appeared to be crack cocaine. Marquez and Lane then returned to the drug task force office.
Pyle, who witnessed the transaction from the van, also returned to the office. He took possession of the suspected cocaine from Marquez and subsequently transported it to the crime lab. Cindy Simpson, a forensic chemist employed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, testified that the substance tested positive for the presence of cocaine.
Dixon was arrested approximately one month later. On September 14, 2000, Lane was arrested on a DUI charge and was placed in the Gordon County Jail. Lane testified that he saw Dixon in a holding cell across from his, and that Dixon pointed at him and said that Lane was the one "that busted him." Lane was not working for the police as an informant at that time.
At trial, Lane, Marquez, and Pyle positively identified Dixon as the person from whom Lane purcha
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