Cotton v. State

686 S.E.2d 805 (2009)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

In a search incident to d's arrest for driving without a license, police officers found three identical small plastic 'nickel bags' of marijuana and $60 (two $5 bills, one $10 bill, and two $20 bills) in the same pocket, as well as another identical small bag of marijuana on the ground near his feet. All of the marijuana in the four bags combined weighed 2.7 grams. There was no evidence that D was a user. The officer who arrested D testified that he suspected that D was distributing marijuana because he was arrested in an area well-known for drug activity, he did not have a smoking device, he was driving a car that did not belong to him in an apartment complex in which he did not live, personal users normally have all of their marijuana in one bag instead of separate baggies, distributors sell marijuana in small bags like the ones found on Cotton for approximately $10-$20, and the denominations of the cash found in his pocket lent themselves to giving change. Another officer who assisted with the arrest testified that the evidence pointed to the fact that D was a street-level dealer. There were four bags of marijuana separately packaged. The money was in the same location that the drugs were found. There was no wallet. It was easy access for somebody to distribute and take money during a transaction. The . . . money was consistent with the amount of drugs that was on his person. . . .The amount of the bags was consistent with -- like basically a dime bag or a $10 bag would be consistent with the amount of money that he had. He had four bags on him, which isn't a lot of bags, but he had the corresponding money with that. Also, a smart dealer was going to stash a larger supply either in a bush or inside an apartment or inside a car and then go back and restock, and then they sell what they have and they conduct business that way. D did not have a pipe, rolling papers or other smoking device with him which 'indicates he wasn't a user, that he was more of a distributor.' D's girlfriend, who lived at Ridgecrest Apartments, testified that D was unemployed at the time of his arrest, that he stayed with her the night before his arrest, that she gave him $80 the day before he was arrested, that he smoked marijuana every day in a blunt made from tobacco cigars, that it was not uncommon for D to possess four $5 bags for his personal use, that he would obtain his marijuana somewhere within Ridgecrest Apartments, and that she had never known him to sell marijuana. D was convicted and appealed.