Opinion
Record No. 0642-93-3
Decided: June 7, 1994
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HANOVER COUNTY, Richard H. C. Taylor, Judge
Reversed and dismissed.
Gary R. Hershner (Hershner Jacobs, on brief), for appellant.
Thomas D. Bagwell, Assistant Attorney General (James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judge Fitzpatrick and Retired Judge Hodges
Pursuant to Code Sec. 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
The judgment of the trial court is reversed because:
The circumstantial evidence was insufficient for the fact finder to reasonably infer that William J. Moore and Milton Arnold Williams, Jr. had agreed to distribute marijuana. The proof at trial established that Moore and Williams had only a buyer-seller relationship. The relationship of buyer-seller, standing alone, does not constitute a conspiracy. Zuniga v. Commonwealth, 7 Va. App. 523, 528, 375 S.E.2d 381, 385 (1988). A single buyer-seller relationship can only be conspiracy if "(1) 'the seller knows the buyer's intended illegal use,' and (2) 'by the sale [the seller] intends to further, promote and cooperate in [the venture].' " Id. at 529, 375 S.E.2d at 385 (quoting Direct Sales Co. v. United States, 319 U.S. 703, 711 (1943)). No evidence proved, either directly or impliedly, that Williams knew Moore's intended use for the drugs. The only evidence presented at trial was that Williams sold marijuana to Moore.
Reversed and dismissed.