Brown v. State

Fred Brown appeals from a DeKalb County jury’s verdict finding him guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. We affirm his conviction.

In a light most favorable to the verdict,1 the charge arose when a concerned citizen telephoned the Atlanta Police Department to report that a male wearing jeans, a black leather jacket, and a purple hat was standing beside a white car at the corner of Meadowlake Drive and Walton Lane in the Eastlake Meadows Housing Development, selling drugs from the car. Officer W. C. Jones arrived at that location to find defendant Brown dressed in jeans, a black leather jacket, and a purple hat. Brown was standing “right next to white a automobile.” Brown was the only person standing near the car. Brown was the only person dressed in jeans, black leather jacket, and purple hat. When he saw the officer, Brown started to walk away. The officer stopped him; the car was investigated. There was a broken backseat window where Brown had been standing. A plastic bag containing fifty-eight hits of crack cocaine, packaged in individual ziplock baggies, was in plain view and accessible on the backseat of the car. The car belonged to Brown.