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Mincey v. State

Sufficient evidence authorized jury to find that the defendant intended to possess a cell phone while incarcerated in violation of O.C.G.A. § 42-5-18.

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A jury found Maurice Mincey guilty of possession of a telecommunications device by an inmate. Mincey appeals from the conviction, contending the state failed to prove that he had the requisite intent to commit a crime, inasmuch as there is no evidence that he knew that it was unlawful for an inmate to possess a cellular telephone. We affirm the conviction. OCGA § 42-5-18 c provides that it “shall be unlawful for an inmate to possess . . . a telecommunications device; or any other item without the authorization of the warden or superintendent or his or her designee.” Under the statute, a cell phone is a “telecommunications device.”1

Viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that Mincey was serving his fifth year of a 20-year prison sentence when Dooly State Prison correctional officers received a report that an inmate in Mincey’s unit had a cell phone. An officer went to the unit and noticed that Mincey had a cell phone in his hand. The officer took the phone.

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