A jury found Justin Shoemaker guilty of possessing methamphetamine, trafficking in methamphetamine, and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. Shoemaker appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of possessing methamphetamine. For reasons that follow, we affirm. 1. Shoemaker claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. “When reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress, we view the evidence in a light favorable to the trial court’s conclusions, and we adopt the trial court’s findings on disputed facts and credibility unless they are clearly erroneous.”1 So viewed, the record shows that at approximately 12:40 a.m. on November 9, 2005, Officer Kaye of the Henry County Police Department responded to a suspicious vehicle call. A vehicle was parked in the driveway of a subdivision’s unoccupied model home; Officer Kaye ran the vehicle’s tag and learned that it was registered to a different vehicle. In the vehicle’s front seat, Officer Kaye saw a scanner, a camouflage mask, a digital scale, and a cell phone. Officer Kaye left the scene; when she returned at approximately 3:00 a.m., she saw Shoemaker walk up and enter the vehicle.
Officer Kaye asked Shoemaker to exit the vehicle and requested his driver’s license. She saw a “very large . . . glass smoking device,” or “bong,” in the vehicle, which had not been there before. When she asked him about the object, Shoemaker stated that it was a bong. Because Shoemaker was sweating, jumpy, very nervous, stuttering, and had red eyes, Officer Kaye suspected that he might be under the influence of a controlled substance. She asked Shoemaker if he was high, and he replied, “Yes, I’m high.” She noticed that the front pockets of Shoemaker’s pants were “extra bulgy,” and accordingly told him that she was going to pat him down to make sure he did not have a weapon. When she patted Shoemaker down, she felt something hard, “like a case,” in one of his pockets. Thinking it might be a weapon, Officer Kaye pulled the item out of Shoemaker’s pocket. It was a camera case, “like a 35 millimeter camera size,” which she believed might contain a weapon. Upon opening the case, Officer Kaye found a scale and several small plastic bags containing what appeared to be crystal methamphetamine. Shoemaker was placed under arrest, and a subsequent search of his vehicle yielded, among other items, two guns and ammunition.
