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Stokes v. State

The defendant had constructive possession of the cocaine found in his car, even though police found it in the passenger's shoe, because the defendant admitted that the passenger was going to give him the cocaine in exchange for driving.

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Ritchea Rayan Stokes appeals his conviction for possession of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.1 Stokes waived his right to a jury trial and after a bench trial was sentenced to 6 years, with 30 days to serve. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Stokes contends that the verdict was not supported by sufficient evidence. Finding no error, we affirm.

The facts of the case, considered in the light most favorable to the verdict, are as follows. Stokes was pulled over for failing to dim the headlights on his car in response to oncoming traffic. The police officer who initiated the traffic stop had a drug detection dog with him at the time of the stop. Stokes was driving and there was one passenger in the car. As the officer approached the car, he smelled “a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle.” The officer then walked the drug dog around the car and received a positive alert from the dog, indicating drugs were located in the car. Backup officers arrived at the scene just after the dog finished. The officer instructed Stokes to exit the car, and noticed that his pupils were dilated and he was unsteady on his feet. The officer also found a crack pipe in Stokes’ shoe, and Stokes admitted to smoking crack earlier in the day. Around this time, the officer monitoring the passenger saw two large bags of marijuana stuffed in his pants. Then the officers took both Stokes and his passenger into custody. When the passenger arrived at the police station, an officer searched him and found a rock of crack cocaine in his shoe.

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