Opinion
Record No. 1829-92-1
Decided: July 26, 1994
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF HAMPTON, Walter J. Ford, Judge
Affirmed.
George M. Rogers, III, for appellant.
Eugene Murphy, Assistant Attorney General (Stephen D. Rosenthal, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judges Coleman and Fitzpatrick
Pursuant to Code Sec. 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
In this appeal of three drug-related convictions, we hold that the trial court did not admit hearsay evidence and did not err by permitting a witness to explain his meaning of a narcotics slang term he used, and we find the evidence is sufficient to sustain the conviction of causing a juvenile to assist in the distribution of cocaine.
I.
The trial court did not err in permitting Detective Larry Nisley to testify that "[Brown] asked for [his] money." Hearsay is "testimony in court . . . of a statement made out of court . . . being offered as an assertion to show the truth of matters asserted therein, and thus resting for its value upon the credibility of the out-of-court asserter." Stevenson v. Commonwealth, 218 Va. 462, 465, 237 S.E.2d 779, 781 (1977).
See also Arnold v. Commonwealth, 4 Va. App. 275, 280, 356 S.E.2d 847, 850 (1987). The statement was not hearsay. Nisley was testifying only to the fact that Brown requested money from him. Brown's request was not being offered as an "assertion" by Brown as to whether he wanted money, but only that he had made the statement. Thus, Brown's credibility was immaterial. The request was being offered to show that it was made, and was not offered for its truth or falsity. Such verbal conduct is not hearsay. See 2 Charles E. Friend, The Law of Evidence in Virginia Sec. 18-3 (4th ed. 1993).
II.
The trial court did not err in permitting Detective Nisley to explain to the jury that he meant narcotics when he used the term "thing." Detective Nisley was not asked and did not testify as to what he thought Irvin Charity understood the term to mean. It is not error to ask a witness to explain the meaning of a slang term for purposes of clarification or understanding the witness's testimony. See Hodge v. Commonwealth, 7 Va. App. 351, 358, 374 S.E.2d 76, 78 (1988).
A police officer is permitted to explain slang words commonly used in illegal transactions. See Shama v. United States, 94 F.2d 1, 5 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 304 U.S. 568 (1938) (police officer permitted to explain term "hustled" to the jury). Similarly, Detective Nisley is permitted to explain what he meant by the term he used in order to explain and have the jury understand his purpose and actions. See Enriquez v. United States, 293 F.2d 788, 795 (9th Cir. 1961) (witness permitted to testify that "snuff" meant heroin). "No reason has been suggested why it [is] improper for [a] witness to substitute another word for the slang term so as to make his meaning clearer." Shama, 94 F.2d at 5.
III.
Charity challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction for violating Code Sec. 18.2-255A(ii) that he knowingly and intentionally "caused" a juvenile to assist in the distribution of cocaine. Damian Brown testified that in November, 1991, when he was a juvenile, Irvin Charity gave him "a twenty-cent rock" of cocaine and told him to sell it. After Detective Nisley asked Charity where he could find the "thing," Charity directed Nisley to Damian Brown. Brown testified that after he sold the rock cocaine to Nisley, he returned to give the money to Charity and Charity told him "to hold it."
"It is well settled in Virginia that the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony are questions exclusively for the jury" absent plain error. Coppola v. Commonwealth, 220 Va. 243, 252, 257 S.E.2d 797, 803 (1979). The testimony of Damian Brown is sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Charity knowingly and intentionally caused Damian Brown, a juvenile, to distribute cocaine. The jury's verdict was not plainly wrong or without evidence to support it. Accordingly, we affirm Charity's convictions.
Affirmed.