Garcia v. State

The defendant was not entitled to a charge on conspiracy as a lesser offense where the undisputed evidence showed commission of the completed crime.

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A Gwinnett County jury found Felix Perez Garcia guilty of the crimes of trafficking in cocaine, OCGA § 16-13-31 a 1 C, and giving a false name to law enforcement officers, OCGA § 16-10-25. On appeal, Garcia claims the trial court erred by failing to give his requested charge of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. We find no error and affirm. In this case, evidence showed the following. Garcia and four other men drove from Rochester, New York to Gwinnett County for the purpose of “robbing somebody for some drugs.” On the afternoon of June 13, 2002, three of these men, including Garcia, stole at least two kilograms of cocaine from persons at the Copper Mills Apartments. Two conspirators left the scene of the robbery in a rented Subaru station wagon while Garcia left in a second rented vehicle. Men in a pick-up truck pursued the Subaru and forced the vehicle off the road, causing it to overturn, and the two conspirators fled the scene with two kilograms of cocaine stolen from the apartment. Police subsequently discovered a bag containing approximately eight kilograms of cocaine in the debris of the wreck. According to a co-conspirator’s testimony, Garcia had previously informed the conspirators that “he is going to put the drugs in the car.”

Later that day, Garcia, using a false name, reported that the Subaru had been hijacked. He told police that he had driven the Subaru from Rochester, New York to Gwinnett County to meet an old girlfriend, but he discovered upon arrival that she had moved to Miami. According to Garcia’s statement to police, two men hijacked the Subaru, bound him hand and foot, and deposited him in a wooded area. The police did not believe Garcia, largely because his neat clothing and the lack of binding marks were not consistent with his story. Police placed Garcia under arrest for suspicion of trafficking in cocaine.

Garcia v. State

The defendant was not entitled to a charge on conspiracy as a lesser offense where the undisputed evidence showed commission of the completed crime.

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