Sonya Ferrell, Michael Clark, and Elizabeth K. Durante were jointly indicted for trafficking in cocaine and possession of a controlled substance, MDMA.1 Durante and Clark were also indicted for several misdemeanors. Following a jury trial, all defendants were found guilty on all charges. Ferrell appeals the denial of her motion for new trial. Finding no reversible error, we affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and the defendant is no longer entitled to a presumption of innocence. We neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses, but determine only the sufficiency of the evidence in accordance with the standard set forth in Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.2 “As long as there is some competent evidence, even though contradicted, to support each fact necessary to make out the State’s case, the jury’s verdict will be upheld.”3 So viewed, the trial evidence shows that Deputy Billy Jones initiated a traffic stop because the driver and passenger of a car were not wearing seatbelts. The vehicle delayed pulling over but finally stopped. Clark was driving, Durante was in the front passenger seat, and Ferrell was in the back seat. Upon speaking with the driver, the deputy smelled a strong odor of marijuana. After questioning, Clark admitted that his driver’s license was suspended, and Durante admitted that she had some marijuana in her purse, which was in the center console of the car. The deputy found a plastic bag with six grams of marijuana in Durante’s purse, as well as a cell phone. The phone showed a picture of Clark and Durante with the phrase “Mike and Liz” on the top of the photo. The phone contained text messages referencing drugs and drug sales.
A search of the car revealed a Crown Royal bag on the front floorboard at the edge of the seat. Inside this bag were empty baggies, cocaine and a digital scale commonly used for weighing drugs. The cocaine was packaged in one large bag, weighing 30.7 grams, and 17 individual baggies, weighing 6.4 grams total. The large bag of cocaine was 80.9 percent pure, and the smaller bags were about 60.7 percent pure. Also inside the Crown Royal bag was a pharmacy pill bottle labeled with Ferrell’s anti-depressant prescription. The bottle contained two baggies, one holding five pills and the other holding one pill. GBI crime lab tests subsequently confirmed that the pills were MDMA.
