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Kennedy v. State

The officer's examination of the cocaine in defendant's presence was not the functional equivalent of express questioning that was likely to elicit an incriminating response from defendant.

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Tony Andrew Kennedy was found guilty by a jury of two counts of selling cocaine in violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act. On appeal he claims that: 1 a statement he made to police while he was in custody and was being interrogated should have been excluded by the trial court because he was not given the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 86 SC 1602, 16 LE2d 694 1966; and 2 the trial court should have granted his motion for a mistrial when the State improperly placed his character into evidence. We find that the statement at issue was not subject to exclusion under Miranda because it was not obtained by interrogation but was volunteered by Kennedy, and the State did not improperly inject his character into evidence. Accordingly, we find no error and affirm the judgment of conviction entered on the guilty verdicts.

1. The State produced testimony from police officers and from an informant working for the police that Kennedy sold cocaine on two separate occasions to the informant. The State also produced evidence that Kennedy made a statement to police admitting that he sold cocaine to the informant. Kennedy testified and denied that he sold the cocaine. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdicts, the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find that Kennedy was guilty of the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.

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