STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Union County
Nos. 00 CRS 14204, 53945
FERRELL JAMES MASSEY
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General M.
Janette Soles, for the State.
Haakon Thorsen for defendant-appellant.
WALKER, Judge.
Defendant was charged with possession with intent to sell and
deliver cocaine, sale and delivery of cocaine, and of attaining the
status of habitual felon. The State's evidence tended to show that
on 20 August 1999, Officer James Bowden of the Siler City Police
Department was acting as a street buyer as part of an undercover
drug operation with the Monroe Police Department. Detectives Gabe
Broome and James Hughes of the Monroe Police Department monitored
Officer Bowden's actions through a wire listening device he was
wearing on his body. Officer Bowden's undercover vehicle also had
a video camera set up to record drug buys. At approximately 6:30 p.m., Officer Bowden drove near the
intersection of Kerr and Scott Avenues, a section of Monroe where
Officer Bowden previously had made drug buys. Officer Bowden
noticed defendant and two other men sitting on the porch of a brick
house. He turned left on Scott Avenue and eventually worked his
way back to the brick house on Kerr Avenue. As Officer Bowden
drove, one of the men sitting on the porch flagged him down.
Officer Bowden spoke into the wire listening device to inform
Detectives Broome and Hughes that he had been flagged down and he
was stopping at a brick house.
After Officer Bowden and the man slapped hands, defendant
approached the vehicle. Defendant asked Officer Bowden whether he
was with the police and Officer Bowden responded negatively. The
man in the gray shirt went back to the porch and defendant squatted
down next to the driver's side of the vehicle. Officer Bowden
asked defendant for twenty dollars' worth of cocaine. Defendant
and Officer Bowden exchanged the money for the cocaine. Because
defendant squatted down, the video camera only captured defendant's
hands. Officer Bowden then left.
As Officer Bowden drove away, he relayed to Detectives Broome
and Hughes, via the wire listening device, descriptions of
defendant and the other man. Defendant was approximately five feet
eleven inches tall, weighed approximately 185 pounds, and wore a
camouflage shirt and baggy jeans. He also wore medium length
dreads on the top of his head and short hair on the sides of his
head. The man who flagged Officer Bowden down had medium lengthhair, was approximately five feet ten inches tall, weighed
approximately 175 pounds, and wore a gray t-shirt. The third man
was young, slender, and his hair was close cut. Once Officer
Bowden was out of the area, he used his cellular phone to verify
that the officers had received his communication.
Five minutes later, Officer Bowden met with Detectives Broome
and Hughes at the Law Enforcement Center for Monroe. Officer
Bowden put the cocaine in an evidence control bag and gave it to
Detective Broome. He then confirmed the descriptions of defendant
and the two men. After the meeting, Detectives Broome and Hughes
drove to the brick house where the drug exchange took place.
Detectives Broome and Hughes observed defendant, who had dreads on
the top of his head and wore a camouflage shirt and baggy blue jean
shorts, standing on the porch of the house.
Defendant did not present any evidence. A jury found
defendant guilty as charged. Defendant admitted to attaining the
status of an habitual felon. The trial court sentenced defendant
to 116 to 149 months in prison. Defendant appeals.
Defendant contends the trial court erred by denying his motion
to dismiss the charges of possession of cocaine with intent to sell
and deliver and sale and delivery of cocaine, in violation of N.C.
Gen. Stat. §§ 90-95(a)(1) and (2)(2001), respectively. Defendant
asserts there was insufficient evidence to prove he was the man who
sold the cocaine to Officer Bowden. We disagree.
The standard for ruling on a motion to dismiss “is whether
there is substantial evidence (1) of each essential element of theoffense charged and (2) that defendant is the perpetrator of the
offense.” State v. Lynch, 327 N.C. 210, 215, 393 S.E.2d 811, 814
(1990). Substantial evidence is that relevant evidence which a
reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.
State v. Patterson, 335 N.C. 437, 449-50, 439 S.E.2d 578, 585
(1994). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the trial court must
consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the
State, and the State is entitled to all reasonable inferences which
may be drawn from the evidence. State v. Davis, 130 N.C. App. 675,
679, 505 S.E.2d 138, 141 (1998). “Any contradictions or
discrepancies arising from the evidence are properly left for the
jury to resolve and do not warrant dismissal.” State v. King, 343
N.C. 29, 36, 468 S.E.2d 232, 237 (1996).
Here, defendant approached Officer Bowden in his undercover
vehicle, bent down next to the driver's side, and gave Officer
Bowden cocaine in exchange for twenty dollars. After observing
defendant at close range during the drug transaction, Officer
Bowden gave a description of defendant to Detectives Broome and
Hughes over the wire listening device. Five minutes after the
transaction, Officer Bowden confirmed his description of defendant
and the location of the drug transaction at the meeting with the
detectives. Furthermore, the detectives verified Officer Bowden's
description of defendant when they drove by the brick house and saw
defendant standing on the porch. Accordingly, the trial court
properly denied defendant's motion to dismiss. Defendant has failed to argue his two remaining assignments of
error. Accordingly, they are deemed abandoned. State v. Bonney,
329 N.C. 61, 82, 405 S.E.2d 145, 157 (1991).
No error.
Judges THOMAS and BIGGS concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).
*** Converted from WordPerfect ***