Griffin v. State

A jury found Melinda Griffin guilty of possession of methamphetamine and giving a false name to a law enforcement officer. She appeals, asserting that the trial court erred by denying her access to exculpatory evidence, by refusing to rebuke the prosecutor for improper closing argument, and by allowing the prosecutor to attack her character. We find no reversible error and affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, the appellant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence, and we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict.1 So viewed, the record shows that Officers Don Scalia and John Higginbotham of the Hall County Sheriff’s Department, along with three other officers, went to Griffin’s residence to investigate a burglary complaint that Griffin’s neighbor had made against her. When Griffin answered the door, Scalia identified himself as a police officer and asked for her name. She said that she was Lisa McCune. Skeptical, Scalia went next door and spoke briefly with the neighbor, then returned to talk further with Griffin. This time, Griffin gave Scalia her correct name.

Scalia then asked Griffin if the officers could search her home, and she consented. Higginbotham searched Griffin’s bedroom, where he found a purse containing her state identification and social security cards. He also found, inside the purse, a glass pipe that appeared to be a smoking device for methamphetamine, a baggy containing a small amount of a substance that appeared to be methamphetamine, and “a wooden spoon that could possibly be used for . . . weighing out methamphetamine to be distributed.” The substance in the baggy later testified positive for methamphetamine at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab.