FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT, ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:
Eric Simmons:
STEVE CARTER
SHANE E. BEAL
Attorney General of Indiana
Marion, Indiana
GRANT H. CARLTON
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT, Deputy Attorney General
Anthony Davis: Indianapolis, Indiana
CRAIG PERSINGER
Marion, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
ERIC SIMMONS, )
ANTHONY DAVIS, )
)
Appellants-Defendants, )
)
vs. ) No. 27A02-0409-CR-807
)
STATE OF INDIANA, )
)
Appellee-Plaintiff. )
APPEAL FROM THE GRANT SUPERIOR COURT
The Honorable Randall L. Johnson, Judge
Cause No. 27D02-0206-FA-56
27D02-0206-FA-57
June 3, 2005
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
BARNES, Judge
Case Summary
Anthony Davis and Eric Simmons appeal their convictions for Class A felony conspiracy
to deal in cocaine in excess of three grams. Davis also appeals
his sentence. We affirm.
Issues
We restate the issues as:
whether there is sufficient evidence to support Daviss and Simmonss convictions for conspiracy
to deal in cocaine in excess of three grams when neither of the
two individual transactions involved more than three grams of cocaine; and
whether the jury rendered inconsistent verdicts.
Davis raises another issue, which we restate as whether he was properly sentenced.
Facts
See footnote
Late in the evening of June 4, 2002, or early in the morning
of June 5, 2002, Derrius Purtee, Miko Harris, Antonio Dawson, and Simmons drove
from Detroit, Michigan, to Marion, Indiana. When they arrived in Marion, they
went to an apartment on Boots Street. Purtee played video games while
Harris cut crack cocaine into small pieces and Dawson and Simmons placed the
pieces into bags.
When they finished, Purtee, Harris, and Simmons drove to an apartment on 9
th
Street. Davis, a friend from Detroit, was at the apartment, which had
very little furniture. Davis gave Harris a couple hundred dollars. Tr.
p. 420. In return, Harris gave Davis a bag containing rocks of
cocaine. Simmons took an overnight bag from Harriss car into the 9th
Street apartment, and Harris and Purtee returned to the Boots Street apartment.
Early in the morning on June 5, 2002, confidential informant Euthan Lampkin arrived
at the 9th Street apartment to purchase cocaine. While Lampkin was in
the apartment, Simmons gave Davis the cocaine, and Davis gave the cocaine to
Lampkin. When Lampkin paid for the cocaine, Davis instructed him to place
the money in a stack of bills Simmons was counting. Lampkin returned
to the police officer overseeing the controlled buy, completed the necessary procedures, and
returned to the 9th Street apartment to make another buy. During the
second purchase, Davis sold Lampkin more cocaine. In the first buy, Lampkin
purchased 1.61 grams of cocaine, and during the second buy Lampkin purchased 1.51
grams of cocaine. Lampkin purchased a total of 3.12 grams from the
9th Street apartment that morning. The same day, Lampkin also twice purchased
cocaine at the Boots Street apartment.
On June 7, 2002, the State charged Davis with Class A felony dealing
in cocaine, Class A felony conspiracy to deal in cocaine, Class D felony
maintaining a common nuisance, and Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana. That
same day, the State charged Simmons with two counts of Class B felony
dealing in cocaine and one count of Class A felony conspiracy to deal
in cocaine, Class A felony dealing in cocaine, Class D felony maintaining a
common nuisance, and Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Prior to trial, several of these charges were dismissed. Simmons was tried
on one of the Class B felony dealing in cocaine charges and the
Class A felony conspiracy to deal in cocaine charge. Davis was tried
on the sole charge of Class A felony conspiracy to deal in cocaine.
The conspiracy charge against Simmons alleged in part:
During May and June, 2002, in Marion, Grant County, State of Indiana, Antonio
Eugene Dawson, with the intent to commit the felony crime of Dealing in
cocaine in an amount greater than three (3) grams, did agree with Anthony
Davis, Eric Darnell Simmons, Randy, and/or other unknown persons to commit said felony
crime; and in furtherance of such agreement, Antonio Eugene Dawson, Anthony Davis, Randy,
and/or other unknown persons did perform one or more of the following over
acts, to wit:
Located a source for cocaine that was to be transported to, and sold
within, Grant County, Indiana;
Purchased and/or otherwise acquired cocaine from said source;
Obtained means of transportation for the purpose of traveling to Grant [C]ounty, Indiana;
Traveled to Grant County, Indiana;
Transported cocaine to Grant County, Indiana;
Purchased, rented, and/or otherwise acquired possession of one or more residences in Grant
County, Indiana, to be used for manufacturing, storing/possessing, selling, and/or delivering crack cocaine
to one or more customers;
Manufactured, stored/possessed[,] sold and/or delivered crack cocaine to one or more customers in
amounts greater than three (3) grams;
Screened potential customers at the door(s) of said residence(s) prior to allowing entry
for the purpose of purchasing crack cocaine;
Acquired and/or possessed Ohaus electronic digital scales to be used for measuring various
amounts/weights of cocaine; and/or[;]
Received U.S. cash currency and/or other items of value in exchange for cocaine
delivered to customers[.]
Simmonss App. pp. 110-11. The conspiracy charge against Davis was substantially similar
to the information filed against Simmons. See Daviss App. pp. 13-14.
Davis and Simmons were tried together, and a jury found them both guilty
of Class A felony conspiracy to deal in cocaine and acquitted Simmons of
the dealing charge. They now appeal.
Analysis
I. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Davis and Simmons (the Appellants) argue that the State should not be permitted
to combine the weight of two separate sales to achieve an aggregated weight
of three or more grams of cocaine, enhancing the offense to a Class
A felony. The Appellants frame their argument in terms of sufficiency of
the evidence. They contend that there is not sufficient evidence to support
their convictions for a Class A felony because each separate sale to Lampkin
involved less than three grams of cocaine.
In reviewing a claim of insufficient evidence, we will affirm the conviction unless,
considering only the evidence and all reasonable inferences favorable to the judgment, we
conclude that no reasonable fact-finder could find the elements of the crime proven
beyond a reasonable doubt. Bethel v. State, 730 N.E.2d 1242, 1243 (Ind.
2000). We neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the
witnesses. Id.
Dealing in cocaine is defined as knowingly or intentionally manufacturing, financing the manufacture
of, delivering, or financing the delivery of cocaine or possessing, with the intent
to manufacture, finance the manufacture of, deliver, or finance the delivery of cocaine.
Ind. Code § 35-48-4-1(a). Dealing in cocaine is a Class B
felony. Id. However, it is enhanced to a Class A felony
if the amount of the drug involved weighs three or more grams.
I.C. § 35-48-4-1(b). A person conspires to commit a felony when, with
intent to commit the felony, he agrees with another person to commit the
felony. A conspiracy to commit a felony is a felony of the
same class as the underlying felony. I.C. § 35-41-5-2.
The Appellants assert that we should construe the dealing statute against the State.
Although we agree that penal statutes are strictly construed against the State,
Mayes v. State, 744 N.E.2d 390, 393 (Ind. 2001), we need not interpret
the statute because we are only asked to review the sufficiency of the
evidence.
The Appellants also point out, there is no principled way for trial courts
or appellate courts to rein in the potentially vast scope of this theory.
Daviss Br. p. 4. We agree that there is danger in
eviscerating the distinction between Class A and Class B felonies and allowing the
enhancement to be charged in circumstances not intended by the legislature.
See footnote However,
we cannot conclude as a matter of law that Indiana Code Section 35-48-4-1
necessarily prohibits the State from charging and proving conspiracy to deal in cocaine
in excess of three grams when no single buy involves three or more
grams of cocaine.See footnote This determination is subject to the specific facts of
each case and the allegations in the charging information.
The Appellants contend that even if the weight of the two transactions with
Lampkin at the 9
th Street apartment may be aggregated, there is insufficient evidence
of an agreement to deal in cocaine. The State was not required
to prove the existence of a formal express agreement to establish the Appellants
agreed to deal in cocaine. Porter v. State, 715 N.E.2d 868, 870
(Ind. 1999). It is sufficient if the minds of the parties meet
understandingly to bring about an intelligent and deliberate agreement to commit the offense.
Id. at 870-71 (quoting Williams v. State, 274 Ind. 94, 96, 409
N.E.2d 571, 573 (1980)). The State may prove an agreement by direct
or circumstantial evidence. Id. at 871. Mere association with a co-conspirator,
standing alone, is insufficient to support a conviction for conspiracy. Id.
In Washington v. State, 807 N.E.2d 793 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004), we addressed
the sufficiency of the evidence in a similar case. In late May
and early June 2002, a confidential informant, Cummings, contacted Nelson to purchase cocaine
on five separate occasions. Id. at 794-95. On the first occasion,
Owensby delivered the cocaine to Cummings. Id. at 795. On the
second occasion the defendant, Washington, delivered the cocaine to Cummings. Id.
On the third and fourth occasions, Nelson delivered the cocaine to Cummings.
Id. On the fifth occasion, Owensby delivered the cocaine to Cummings.
Id.
Although none of the individual buys was in excess of three grams, the
aggregate weight of the five buys was 3.61 grams. Id. The
State charged Washington with Class A felony conspiracy to deal in cocaine in
excess of three grams and a jury found him guilty of this charge.
Id. at 795-96. On appeal, Washington argued that conspiracy to deal
in cocaine should require evidence beyond a reasonable doubt of a single delivery
of three or more grams of cocaine. Id. at 796. We
did not reach this question, however, because there was no evidence of an
agreement to or his involvement in the other four controlled buys. Id.
at 797. We rejected the States proposition that evidence that Washington agreed
to deal in cocaine on one occasion leads to the inevitable and reasonable
inference that he was party to an agreement to do so on the
other four occasions. Id. Without such evidence, we reversed and vacated
Washingtons conviction for the Class A felony. Id.
Unlike in Washington, the Appellants actions here demonstrate an intelligent and deliberate agreement
to deal in three or more grams of cocaine. See Porter, 715
N.E.2d at 870-71. The evidence before us indicates that Harris, Dawson, Simmons,
and Davis all knew each other from Detroit and late on the night
of June 4, 2002, or early in the morning on June 5, 2002,
Harris, Dawson, and Simmons drove from Detroit to an apartment on Boots Street
in Marion. When they arrived the apartment, Harris divided cocaine into pieces
and Dawson and Simmons placed it in [l]ittle bitty bags or button bags.
Tr. p. 403. After they finished dividing the cocaine, Harris and
Simmons drove to a minimally furnished apartment on 9th Street where they met
Davis. Once there, Davis gave Harris approximately two hundred dollars, and Harris
gave Davis a sandwich bag containing loose rocks of cocaine. When Harris
left to return to the Boots Street Apartment, Simmons stayed with Davis at
the 9th Street apartment.
Lampkin first purchased 1.61 grams of cocaine from Simmons and Davis. During
this transaction, Lampkin knocked on the apartment door using a special knock, Simmons
gave the cocaine to Davis to give to Lampkin, and Davis instructed Lampkin
to place the money he used to pay for the cocaine with other
money that Simmons was counting. During the second buy, which occurred very
soon after the first, Davis sold Lampkin 1.51 grams of cocaine. Later
that day, Lampkin twice bought cocaine at the Boots Street apartment.
These buys occurred very close in time, only over a period of hours.
Further, as the State alleged, the conspiracy is not limited to the
agreement to sell cocaine to Lampkin, but includes the location of an apartment
and the transportation and preparation of the cocaine, in addition to the sales
to Lampkin. This is not a situation in which the State attempted
to link several independent buys to enhance an allegation of dealing in cocaine
from a Class B felony to a Class A felony. Given the
specific facts of this case, a reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable
doubt an agreement to deal in cocaine in excess of three or more
grams and that several of the overt acts alleged in the information had
occurred. There is sufficient evidence to support the Appellants convictions.
II. Inconsistent Verdicts
The Appellants next argue that the jurys guilty verdicts for conspiracy to deal
in cocaine are inconsistent with Simmonss acquittal of the dealing in cocaine charge.
Verdicts so extremely contradictory and irreconcilable may require corrective action. Cleasant
v. State, 779 N.E.2d 1260, 1263 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002). However, where
the trial of one defendant results in acquittal of some charges and convictions
on others, the results will survive a claim of inconsistency where the evidence
is sufficient to support the convictions. Id. We will not engage
in speculation about the jurys thought processes or motivation. Id. Generally,
each count of a multi-count information is considered a separate information. Id.
At trial, each count is treated and measured separately, and a defendant
may be found guilty or acquitted on one or more or all of
several charges. Id.
In his brief, Davis adopts Simmonss argument on this issue. The State
points out, however, that Davis was only tried on the conspiracy to deal
in cocaine charges. The States allegation that Davis committed dealing in cocaine
was dismissed prior to trial. As we observed in Green v. State,
808 N.E.2d 137, 139 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004), We believe that it is
axiomatic that, at a minimum, there must be two verdicts before any question
of fatally inconsistent verdicts exists. Because there was only one count pending
against Davis at trial, the jury could not have rendered inconsistent verdicts against
him. See id.
At trial, the information against Simmons alleged that he committed Class A felony
conspiracy to deal in cocaine and Class B felony dealing in cocaine.
The jury found Simmons guilty of conspiracy to deal in cocaine and acquitted
him of the dealing in cocaine charge. Unlike with Davis, because the
jury rendered two verdicts against Simmons, it is possible that they could be
inconsistent.
Simmons cites to Owsley v. State, 769 N.E.2d 181, 182 (Ind. Ct. App.
2002), trans. denied, in which we reversed Owsleys conviction for conspiracy to deal
in cocaine where the jury found him guilty of conspiracy to deal in
cocaine and not guilty of possession of cocaine and dealing in cocaine because
the verdicts were inconsistent. When Owsley was arrested after a drug sale,
he was in possession of the twenty-dollar bill he was given during the
transaction, but a search of his person and the surrounding vicinity uncovered no
cocaine. Id. at 182. The State charged Owsley with conspiracy to
deal in cocaine, dealing in cocaine, and possession of cocaine. The only
overt act the State alleged regarding the conspiracy charge was the act of
providing cocaine. Id. at 182. The jury then rendered a guilty
verdict on the conspiracy to deal in cocaine charge and not guilty verdicts
on the possession of and dealing in cocaine charges. Id. at 183.
In reversing Owsleys conviction, we asked if Owsley did not possess cocaine
on that date, how could he have provided cocaine to [the Seller]?
Id. at 186.
Simmons asks if he did not deal in cocaine as alleged by the
State, what did he do in furtherance of the conspiracy to deal in
cocaine? Simmonss Br. p. 11. The facts in Owsley, however, are
much different than those before us today. Here, the State alleged several
overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. The State was free to
establish the conspiracy by proving any one of the overt acts alleged in
the information. The State was not required to establish that Simmons actually
sold the cocaine to Lampkin, as Simmons suggests. We have already concluded
there is sufficient evidence to support Simmonss conviction for conspiracy to deal in
cocaine. The jury was free to believe some portions of the evidence
of the conspiracy to deal in cocaine and the alleged overt acts while
at the same time discredit other portions of the evidence as it related
to the actual sale of cocaine to Lampkin. See Hodge v. State,
688 N.E.2d 1246, 1249 (Ind. 1997). We also note that Davis, not
Simmons, was the one who directly sold the cocaine to Lampkin. The
jurys verdicts are not so extremely contradictory and irreconcilable as to require reversal.
III. Daviss Sentence
Davis also argues that his enhanced sentence is improper under Blakely v. Washington,
-- U.S. --, 124 S. Ct. 2531, 2543 (2004), which held that every
defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to insist that the prosecutor prove to
a jury all facts legally essential to the punishment. The Supreme Court
followed and expanded upon Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 490, 120
S. Ct. 2348, 2362-63 (2000), which had held: Other than the fact
of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime
beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved
beyond a reasonable doubt. Although it was disputed whether Blakely applied to
Indianas sentencing scheme, in Smylie v. State, 823 N.E.2d 679, 685 (Ind. 2005),
our supreme court concluded it did.
Here, the trial court found as aggravating circumstances that Davis had a lengthy
criminal history, that he was on probation at the time of the offense,
and that he was in need of correctional or rehabilitative treatment best provided
by a commitment to a penal facility. The trial court gave each
aggravator moderate weight. The trial court found no mitigating circumstances and sentenced
Davis to an enhanced sentence of forty years. See I.C. § 35-50-2-4
(setting presumptive sentence for a Class A felony at thirty years and allowing
enhancement of an additional twenty years) (amended 2005).
Davis concedes that the trial court properly considered his criminal history as an
aggravator under Blakely and Apprendi but contends that we should remand for resentencing
because of the trial courts reliance on the two other aggravators. Where
the use of some aggravators violates Blakely and others do not, the question
is whether we can say beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial courts
reliance on improper aggravators was harmless because it would have imposed the same
sentence based solely on the proper aggravators. See Holden v. State, 815
N.E.2d 1049, 1060 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004), trans. denied (2005).
Daviss adult criminal history includes two convictions for larceny, two convictions for attempted
receiving and concealing stolen property, two convictions for attempted delivery/manufacture of less than
50 grams of cocaine, and possession for less than twenty-five grams. Daviss
four drug related convictions occurred within two years prior to this offense.
Given that Davis has numerous convictions and several drug related convictions and the
lack of any mitigators, we conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial
court would have imposed the same sentence based solely on his criminal history.
See id. The trial court did not err in enhancing Daviss
sentence.
Conclusion
Under the limited facts of this case, there is sufficient evidence to sustain
the Appellants convictions for Class A felony dealing in cocaine. The verdicts
rendered in this case are not so inconsistent as to require reversal.
Finally, the trial court did not err in enhancing Daviss sentence. We
affirm.
Affirmed.
KIRSCH, C.J., and BAKER, J., concur.
Footnote:
We deny the Appellants request for oral argument.
Footnote: The State contends that Indiana Code Section 35-48-4-1 is not limited
to a single transaction and points to
Woodford v. State, 752 N.E.2d 1278,
(Ind. 2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 999 (2002). In that case, a
search of Woodfords car revealed nine individually wrapped pieces of a controlled substance
later identified as 3.2 grams of cocaine. Id. at 1280. Woodford
was charged and convicted of Class A felony possession of cocaine in excess
of three grams. Woodford challenged the search and the forensic testing of
the cocaine, and our supreme court affirmed his conviction. Although the State
cites to the facts of this case as support for affirming the Appellants
convictions, it is distinguishable on two grounds. First, Woodford did not argue
on appeal that the weight of the individually wrapped pieces of cocaine should
not be aggregated. More importantly, the nine individually wrapped pieces were found
during a single incident of possession. The basis of the enhancement was
not Woodfords possession of less than three grams of cocaine on nine separate
occasions.
Footnote:
Given the definitions of manufacture and deliver, we can contemplate numerous
situations in which people may conspire to deal in cocaine in excess of
three grams without actually selling it to another person.
See I.C. §
35-48-1-12 (defining delivery as an actual or constructive transfer from one person to
another or organizing or supervising a transfer); I.C. § 35-48-1-18 (defining manufacture to
include any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or relabeling of
its container or the organization or supervision of such).