Following a bench trial upon offenses consolidated for trial, defendant Robert Lee Taylor was convicted of one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon OCGA § 16-11-131, one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute OCGA § 16-13-30 b, and three counts of interference with government property, felony. OCGA § 16-7-24 a. He was sentenced concurrently as a recidivist to 30 years confinement, to serve fifteen years, and the remainder probated. Taylor appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial variously challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. Finding his claims to be without merit, we affirm. Viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that upon receiving a radio report of a domestic disturbance involving Taylor on July 18, 2001, Deputy Jason Spencer of the Walton County Sheriff’s Department proceeded to Taylor’s residence. As Deputy Spencer arrived, Taylor emerged from the residence brandishing a pistol. Ordered to “put it up,” Taylor took the weapon into the house and stepped back outside unarmed. Rather than entering the residence to seize the weapon at that time, Deputy Spencer and his supervisor, whom Spencer called to the scene as back-up, merely spoke to Taylor and departed to await the issuance of a search warrant upon confirmation of Taylor’s status as a convicted felon. Such a warrant was later issued. Execution of the warrant occurred on July 26, 2001, and resulted in the seizure of a Ruger semi-automatic .45 caliber pistol. At trial, the handgun was entered in evidence, without objection, as the weapon Deputy Spencer had observed Taylor handle on July 18. That Taylor is a convicted felon is undisputed.
Other evidence showed that, on the morning of May 17, 2002, Lieutenant Mike Matthews, Lieutenant Rodney Sims, and two other patrol officers of the Monroe Police Department went to a local residence on an anonymous tip to execute an outstanding warrant for Taylor’s arrest. Taylor was on the front porch of the residence as the officers arrived. Lieutenant Sims placed Taylor under arrest and handcuffed him. Lieutenant Matthews then conducted searches of Taylor’s person and the residence. In Taylor’s pants pocket, he found a pill bottle containing 39 rocks of crack cocaine, individually bagged, which in the view of the State’s expert, was for distribution. Inside the residence, Matthews found additional “baggies” of the type used to package the crack cocaine, a razor blade, and a cell phone.
