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Cochran v. State

The arresting officer's opinion testimony, based on his experience, packaging and the amount of marijuana seized supported the defendant's conviction for possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

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A Gordon County jury found Jeffrey Lamont Cochran guilty of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute and possession of more than one ounce of marijuana. On appeal, Cochran contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and that the trial court erred in failing to give his requested charges on mere presence and accomplice testimony. For the reasons set forth below, we disagree and affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, this court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence. This court neither weighs the evidence nor judges the credibility of witnesses, but only determines whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find the defendant guilty of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Footnote omitted. Oliveres v. State , 292 Ga. App. 460, 461 664 SE2d 836 2008. So viewed, the evidence shows that on the afternoon of May 6, 2008, a Georgia State Patrol master trooper saw a car make a “drastic lane change” on Interstate 75, signaling only after crossing halfway from the center lane to the outside right lane. The officer activated his blue lights and stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation. Cochran was sitting in the front passenger’s seat and the car was driven by his girlfriend, Paige Cunningam, with whom Cochran had a five-year intimate relationship.

When the officer approached the passenger’s side of the car he recognized the odor of raw marijuana, with which he was familiar through both training and numerous investigations. The officer testified that someone standing at his vantage point outside the vehicle “would . . . be able to smell and know there was something strange coming from inside.”

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