A Gwinnett County jury found Martin Maldonado guilty of trafficking in cocaine, OCGA § 16-13-31 a 1 C 400 or more grams. He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, contending that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction, that the trial court erred in denying his motions for mistrial, and that his trial counsel was ineffective. Finding no error, we affirm. 1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,1 the record shows the following. On the morning of June 12, 2009, the City of Snellville Police Department set up a road block in Snellville, Gwinnett County, to check for seatbelt and license violations. At about 10:00 a.m., Maldonado passed through the check point, and the officers discovered that he did not have a driver’s license. Although the truck that Maldonado was driving was registered to another person, Maldonado said the truck was his. Maldonado moved the truck out of the roadway, and a police sergeant advised him that he was under arrest for driving without a license. The sergeant allowed Maldonado to use a cell phone to call someone to come retrieve the truck. However, because the friend could not get there within the hour and because police policy dictated that the truck had to be removed from the roadside within 30 minutes, the sergeant informed Maldonado that his truck would be impounded. Maldonado asked that the truck bed be secured because all of his belongings were in it.
When the sergeant inventoried the truck’s contents prior to releasing it to the towing company, he discovered in a tool box what appeared to be dark-colored bricks, taped together and covered with grease. The sergeant testified that, based on his training and experience, he had reason to believe that the bricks were illegal narcotics. He cut open one of the bricks and used a field kit to test the substance inside, and the test yielded a positive result for cocaine. The suspected cocaine was later analyzed by a forensic chemist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who testified that the bricks contained 10,733.48 grams of 72.3 percent pure cocaine. The cocaine had a street value of about $1 million.
