Opinion
Record No. 0909-92-1
December 21, 1993
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF HAMPTON WALTER J. FORD, JUDGE.
Steven M. Oser for appellant.
Margaret Ann B. Walker, Assistant Attorney General (Stephen D. Rosenthal, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Present: Judges Baker, Coleman and Bray.
Argued at Norfolk, Virginia.
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
In this appeal from her bench trial conviction by the Circuit Court of the City of Hampton (trial court) for possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, Linda Hilliard (appellant) asserts that the evidence was insufficient to find her in constructive possession of the camera bag found by the police during a search of her residence. Finding that the evidence was sufficient, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. As the parties are familiar with the record, we recite only those essential facts necessary to show our reasons for this affirmance.
Hampton Special Investigator C. M. Robinson telephoned appellant's residence and agreed to purchase an "8-ball" for $200 from a person who advised that he could "serve" Robinson on appellant's behalf. The address at which the call was received was the residence of appellant, known as 1011 Florida Street in Hampton. Shortly thereafter, Robinson obtained a warrant to search appellant's premises. This particular residence "is a trouble spot and drugs have been known to circulate from" it.
"Street lingo" for an eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine.
When the warrant was executed, nine Hampton police officers entered the residence and conducted the search. As they approached, appellant was sitting on a car in front of the house. Shortly after the officers entered the premises, they "invited" appellant inside. Eight other persons were inside the house, some sitting on the sofa, some sitting on the floor and others standing.
The police found a camera bag on the sofa with all the pockets zippered closed. As Robinson entered the premises, he could see the camera bag on the sofa. No one touched the bag until he took it into his custody. Inside the bag were appellant's personal identification, her wallet, her driver's license, and other forms of identification. In addition, the bag contained three syringes, two spoons and a tie cord with blood on it. Appellant admitted that the bag belonged to her.
Cocaine residue was found on each of the spoons and fresh blood was on the tie cord. Robinson explained that tie cords are used by drug consumers to produce a vein in which drugs are injected and that commonly blood from the injected vein flows onto the cord. Appellant argues that this evidence is insufficient to prove her constructive possession of the camera bag.
Inside appellant's residence, on her sofa, police found a camera bag that appellant admitted she owned. Inside the bag were appellant's wallet, her driver's license and other forms of personal identification, drug paraphernalia, and cocaine residue. That evidence is sufficient to show that appellant was in knowing constructive possession of the bag and its contents, including the drug paraphernalia and cocaine. See Robbs v. Commonwealth, 211 Va. 153, 176 S.E.2d 429 (1970); see also Eckhart v. Commonwealth, 222 Va. 447, 281 S.E.2d 853 (1981).
Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Affirmed.