STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Pender County
Nos. 00 CRS 51383-4
LARRY D. ARMISTEAD
Attorney General Roy A. Cooper, III, by Assistant Attorney
General Thomas B. Wood, for the State.
Samuel J. Randall, IV for defendant-appellant.
HUNTER, Judge.
On 4 December 2000, Larry D. Armistead (“defendant”) was
indicted on charges of conspiracy to deliver marijuana to inmates
and employing a minor to commit a controlled substance offense.
The cases were tried at the 25 June 2001 Criminal Session of Pender
County Superior Court.
The State presented evidence at trial which tended to show the
following: On 6 April 2000, Agent Jason Crist, a narcotics officer
with the Burgaw Police Department, was conducting surveillance on
the Northwoods Apartments after receiving an anonymous report of
drug activity behind the apartments. Agent Crist was advised that
subjects were smoking marijuana, and Agent Crist investigated. Two
male subjects ran away, but Ramesha Armistead remained behind. Ramesha was holding a bookbag, and in it was found two soda cans
stuffed with plastic bags containing four ounces of marijuana.
Agent John Dixon of the Pender County Sheriff's Office was
called in to assist in the investigation, and interviewed Ramesha.
Agent Dixon testified that Ramesha told him that her father,
defendant, had contacted her and asked her to pick up the marijuana
from another subject, deliver it to the prison where he was an
inmate, and dump it off in a ditch. Ramesha's testimony at trial
was in conformity with what she told Agent Dixon.
Agents Dixon and Crist then executed a controlled delivery of
the marijuana, putting the marijuana back into the cans and placing
the cans in a ditch in front of the Pender County Correctional
Center. An inmate, whose job was to pick up trash outside the
prison, then picked up the cans and brought them into a storage
building at the prison. The marijuana was later retrieved from the
storage building. Agent Dixon then interviewed defendant, told him
that his daughter had been arrested, and defendant admitted that he
had arranged for his daughter to drop the marijuana off in front of
the prison.
Defendant was convicted of employing a minor to commit a
controlled substance offense and conspiracy to deliver marijuana.
Defendant was sentenced to a term of twenty-one to twenty-six
months' imprisonment for the offense of employing a minor to
deliver controlled substances, and a consecutive term of five to
six months' imprisonment for the conspiracy offense. Defendant
appeals. We find no error. Defendant's sole argument on appeal is there was insufficient
evidence to support the convictions because he was not identified
by any of the witnesses as the person who committed the offenses
charged. Defendant notes that “the record is silent as to any
witness ever identifying the defendant that was indicted as the
person that committed the acts about which they were testifying.”
Accordingly, defendant contends that the State failed to prove an
essential element of their case _ that defendant committed the
crimes -- and the trial court erred by denying his motion to
dismiss.
After careful review of the record, briefs and contentions of
the parties, we find no error. “In prosecuting a criminal charge
it is the State's burden to establish the following two
propositions: '(1) that a crime has been committed; and (2) that
it was committed by the person charged.'” State v. Lively, 83 N.C.
App. 639, 642, 351 S.E.2d 111, 114 (1986) (quoting State v.
Chapman, 293 N.C. 585, 587, 238 S.E.2d 784, 786 (1977)), disc.
review denied, 319 N.C. 461, 356 S.E.2d 10 (1987). To survive a
motion to dismiss, the State must present substantial evidence of
each essential element of the charged offense. State v. Cross, 345
N.C. 713, 716-17, 483 S.E.2d 432, 434 (1997). “'Substantial
evidence is relevant evidence that a reasonable mind might accept
as adequate to support a conclusion.'” Id. at 717, 483 S.E.2d at
434 (quoting State v. Olson, 330 N.C. 557, 564, 411 S.E.2d 592, 595
(1992)). In the case sub judice, defendant contends that the State
failed to prove its case because he was not identified by any of
the witnesses as the person who committed the offenses charged.
However, Ramesha testified that the defendant was her biological
father, and she further testified that her father had asked her to:
(1) meet someone to pick up some drugs; (2) put the drugs in soda
cans so that it would look like trash, and; (3) put the cans in a
ditch in front of the prison where they would be picked up and
delivered to him. When confronted with the scheme, defendant
admitted to Agent Dixon that he had arranged for Ramesha to drop
off the marijuana in front of the prison. Jonnie Spearman, a case
manager at Pender County Correctional Institution, testified that
defendant was an inmate at the facility on the day of the offense.
In the light most favorable to the State, a reasonable mind could
conclude from the evidence that defendant was the perpetrator of
the offenses charged in the indictments. See Cross, 345 N.C. at
717, 483 S.E.2d at 434. Accordingly, we conclude the trial court
did not err by denying defendant's motion to dismiss the charges.
No error.
Judges MARTIN and BRYANT concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).
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