Moreland v. State

The state did not violate Georgia's bribery statute when it offered two confidential informants leniency and paid one of the informants cash in exchange for their participation in controlled buys of cocaine from the defendant.

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A jury convicted Young P. Moreland of four counts of selling cocaine and acquitted him on one count of possession of cocaine. Moreland appeals following the denial of his motion for new trial. As his sole argument on appeal, Moreland asserts that his conviction was illegal because the State violated Georgia’s bribery statute, OCGA § 16-10-2 a 1, when it promised two informants that they would not be prosecuted on unrelated charges in exchange for their participation in controlled buys of cocaine from Moreland and compensated one of those informants for his participation in the buys. We affirm. The evidence showed that Timothy McCormick was an informant working for the LaGrange Police Department, who agreed, after he was arrested for possession of a crack cocaine pipe, to assist police in making drug buys in exchange for the dismissal of the charges against him. McCormick arranged controlled buys with a number of individuals including Moreland. On one occasion, the police furnished McCormick with $40 to purchase crack cocaine from Moreland, and the transaction was recorded on videotape. An investigator with the LaGrange Police Department testified that police need to employ drug users like McCormick, with ready access to drug sellers, because they are better situated to make controlled buys than are police officers. He stated that these informants are essential to police efforts to control the drug problem.

Reginald Weaver, another informant worked with the LaGrange police setting up controlled buys in exchange for “working off a charge” and for payment averaging approximately $30 per controlled buy. Weaver testified that he had arranged more than 20 controlled buys for the LaGrange police, including three controlled buys with Moreland. Both McCormick and Weaver testified about their controlled buys with Moreland at trial.

Moreland v. State

The state did not violate Georgia's bribery statute when it offered two confidential informants leniency and paid one of the informants cash in exchange for their participation in controlled buys of cocaine from the defendant.

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