Lonnie Poole was charged with trafficking methamphetamine1and possessing methamphetamine.2 A Bartow County jury found him guilty on both counts. Poole appeals his conviction and the denial of his motion for new trial, arguing that the trial court erred by refusing to charge the jury on the lesser included offense of manufacturing methamphetamine and by failing to apply the rule of lenity and sentence him under OCGA § 16-13-30 b, which prohibits the manufacture of methamphetamine. Finding no reversible error, we affirm. Viewed in favor of the judgment,3 the record shows that police went to Poole’s residence and knocked on the door. When Poole answered the door, the police smelled an odor consistent with manufacturing methamphetamine. With Poole’s permission, the officers cleared the residence, and while doing so, they observed an electric hotplate and used Ph strips. After obtaining a warrant, the police searched Poole’s residence, where they found a glass smoking device, open packages of pseudoephedrine, a heat lamp, a gallon jug filled with liquid, plastic sandwich bags, clear tubing, a microwave oven, lye, latex gloves, denatured alcohol, a Visine bottle, glass plates, razor blades, a syringe, a spoon, a measuring cup, a food processor, aluminum foil, and methamphetamine in liquid form. Poole admitted to the police that he smoked, ate, and injected methamphetamine, and he stated that he assumed he’d be taken into custody because he had been “cooking.”
Poole was charged with trafficking methamphetamine in violation of OCGA § 16-13-31 f 1 and possessing methamphetamine in violation of OCGA § 16-13-30 a. At trial, Poole’s trial counsel filed a written request for a jury charge on manufacturing methamphetamine prohibited by OCGA § 16-13-30 b, a lesser included offense of trafficking methamphetamine, but the trial court denied the request. The jury found Poole guilty of both charges. At sentencing, defense counsel requested that the trial court apply the rule of lenity and sentence Poole under the manufacturing methamphetamine Code Section, OCGA § 16-13-30 b. The trial court denied the request and sentenced Poole to 20 years, to serve 10, with a $200,000 fine, pursuant to OCGA § 16-13-31 f 1. Poole filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied, and this appeal followed.
