Aquino v. State

Evidence that a defendant was present at the location of a drug transaction, held a bag similar to the one used in the transaction, and possessed keys to the location and a car used in the transaction was insufficient to support a conviction for trafficking in methamphetamine.

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Juan Aquino was tried and convicted of trafficking in methamphetamine. On appeal, he contends the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction and that first appellate counsel was ineffective. 1. To establish the offense of trafficking in methamphetamine as charged in this case, the State was required to prove that Aquino did “unlawfully knowingly possess 400 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine.” OCGA § 16-13-31 e 3. The standard for reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of the charged offense. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.

Construed in favor of the verdict, the evidence shows that the drug task force for the Gwinnett County Police Department was using a confidential informant to assist with an investigation into the sale of large amounts of methamphetamine. The investigation led to a house located at 2615 Cardinal Lake Circle in Gwinnett County; the property backs up to a lake. On March 22, 2005, the police observed Lionel Minera Aleman, Joaquin Pineda, and Ernesto Maldonado Vasquez get out of two cars, a Cadillac and a Toyota, at that location. One or more other unidentified men were there as well, who, an officer admitted, could have gone into the house that evening and could have been the people who brought the drugs there. The informant then went to the house, spoke with the men for a few minutes in the driveway, and left. He thereafter met with the investigators to relate what had happened. The confidential informant did not testify.

Aquino v. State

Evidence that a defendant was present at the location of a drug transaction, held a bag similar to the one used in the transaction, and possessed keys to the location and a car used in the transaction was insufficient to support a conviction for trafficking in methamphetamine.

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