NO. COA02-871
On writ of certiorari to review judgments dated 7 March 1995
by Judge Wiley F. Bowen in Wake County Superior Court. Heard in
the Court of Appeals 4 March 2003.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Special Deputy Attorney
General R. Marcus Lodge, for the State.
Ligon and Hinton, by Lemuel W. Hinton, for defendant
appellant.
BRYANT, Judge.
Mertune Fortune (defendant), by writ of certiorari, appeals
judgments dated 7 March 1995 entered consistent with a jury verdict
finding him guilty of trafficking in cocaine by possession and
trafficking in cocaine by transportation.
On the morning of 21 April 1994, defendant traveled by
passenger train from south Florida to an Amtrak station in Raleigh,
North Carolina. He exited the train carrying a bag and began to
walk toward the station's parking area. Defendant was approached
by two detectives from the Wake County Sheriff's Department who
asked to see defendant's ticket and identification. Defendant
presented a ticket in the name of Joseph Dennis and a Floridaidentification in the name of Mertune Fortune. The detectives were
then joined by a State Bureau of Investigation agent who led
defendant into the station and obtained his consent to search the
bag. The bag contained two packages of cocaine weighing 559.6
grams. Defendant was indicted for trafficking in at least 400
grams of cocaine by possession and trafficking in at least 400
grams of cocaine by transportation. Prior to trial, defendant
filed a motion to suppress the cocaine found in his bag. Defendant
also moved to dismiss the drug trafficking charges at trial. The
trial court denied both motions.
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The issues are whether: (I) the trial court erred in failing
to suppress the cocaine found in defendant's bag and (II) the
evidence did not support a finding that the cocaine weighed at
least 400 grams.
I
Defendant asserts the trial court erred in failing to suppress
the cocaine found in his bag. We note that although defendant
filed a pre-trial motion to suppress, he failed to object to the
introduction of this evidence at trial. Defendant has therefore
failed to preserve the suppression issue for review on appeal.
See
State v. Grooms, 353 N.C. 50, 66, 540 S.E.2d 713, 723 (2000).
Moreover, defendant has not assigned or argued plain error in his
brief to this Court.
See N.C.R. App. P. 10(c)(4). Accordingly,
his argument is not properly before us.
II
Defendant next claims the trial court erred in denying his
motion to dismiss the drug trafficking charges under N.C. Gen.
Stat. § 90-95(h) because the evidence did not support a finding
that the cocaine in his bag weighed at least 400 grams. This
argument is based on a typographical error in the original
stenographic transcript of the trial. The State has since
submitted a motion to amend the transcript to correct the error,
supported by an affidavit of the court reporter. This Court
allowed the motion by order entered 17 October 2002. The corrected
text now reflects SBI chemist William Christopher Stark's testimony
that the cocaine seized from defendant's bag weighed 559.6 grams.
Accordingly, this assignment of error is overruled.
As defendant's remaining assignments of error are not
addressed in his brief to this Court, they are deemed abandoned.
See N.C.R. App. P. 28(b)(6).
No error.
Judges HUNTER and ELMORE concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).
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