In August 2008, an Effingham County jury found Randy Price guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute methylenedioxymethamphetamine hereinafter, “Ecstacy”, in violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, OCGA § 16-13-20 et seq. Pursuant to the grant of his motion for an out-of-time appeal, Price appeals, contending that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, erred in admitting similar transaction evidence, and erred in excluding certain evidence. He also asserts that there was insufficient evidence to prove either venue or the elements of the offenses charged. Finding no error, we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,1 the record shows the following facts. In February 2006, Traci Hollingsworth contacted the Effingham County Drug Unit and reported that her husband had traded her car to individuals on Churchill Road in exchange for crack cocaine. According to one of the drug unit’s officers, the Churchill Road area has been a “problem area” for crack cocaine and marijuana sales for many years. Hollingsworth told the officers that her husband had regular dealings in that area with a man with the last name of “Price.” She said that she had gone to the Churchill Road area to retrieve the car, that she saw five men selling crack cocaine, and that they refused to return the car to her. Members of the drug unit went with Hollingsworth to the Churchill Road area, where they observed the car parked between two buildings.
While an officer went to obtain a search warrant for the property, two other drug unit officers hid in the woods behind the property to watch Hollingsworth’s car and observe any individuals coming and going from the buildings and elsewhere on the property. One of the officers saw Price with a shovel, doing something in the dog pen that was located at the rear of the property. The pen contained three doghouses and three pit bulls. Shortly thereafter, the officer saw Price talking on a cellphone as he walked to the front of the property toward a pump house that was located near Price’s trailer, and then saw him leave the property for five or six minutes. When Price returned, he entered the dog pen, kneeled down by one of the doghouses, and lifted it up. The officer was unable to see what Price was doing while he was holding up the doghouse.
