Noellien v. State

On appeal from his conviction for drug possession, Solomon Noellien argues that the trial court erred when it limited argument and that trial counsel was ineffective. We affirm. “On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, with the defendant no longer enjoying a presumption of innocence.” Reese v. State , 270 Ga. App. 522, 523 607 SE2d 165 2004. We neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, but determine only whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a “rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307, 319 III B 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.

So viewed, the record shows that on the night of October 16, 2007, an Acworth police officer was sitting in his patrol car observing a motel parking lot known for illegal drug activity when he saw a car pull into the parking lot. A man approached the car, talked to the driver while looking all around him, and entered the passenger side. A few minutes later, the man emerged from the car, looked around him again, and left the area on foot. The car then exited the parking lot without stopping or yielding. When the police officer drove up in preparation for a traffic stop, the car turned abruptly into a fast-food restaurant lot, and then into an adjacent gas station. After watching the driver of the car in another encounter with a pedestrian, apparent drug transaction, the police officer stopped the car, the interior of which smelled of raw marijuana.