Argued
March 7, 2019
Procedural
History
Substitute
information charging the defendant with the crimes of
possession of a narcotic substance, possession of a narcotic
substance with intent to sell, and conspiracy to possess a
narcotic substance with the intent to sell, brought to the
Superior Court in the judicial district of New Haven and
tried to the jury before Klatt, J.; verdict of
guilty of possession of a narcotic substance; thereafter, the
court denied the motion filed by the defendant for a judgment
of acquittal; judgment in accordance with the verdict, from
which the defendant appealed to this court.
Affirmed.
Timothy H. Everett, assigned counsel, with whom were Adam
Antar, certified legal intern, and, on the brief, Karen
Mitchell, certified legal intern, Julie Mos-cato, certified
legal intern, and Uriel Lloyd, certified legal intern, for
the appellant (defendant).
Lisa
A. Riggione, senior assistant state's attorney, with
whom, on the brief, were Patrick J. Griffin, state's
attorney, and Robert F. Mullins, assistant state's
attorney, for the appellee (state).
Keller, Moll and Beach, Js.
OPINION
BEACH,
J.
The
defendant, Jeffrey Orlando Crewe, appeals from the judgment
of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of possession of
a narcotic substance in violation of General Statutes §
21a-279 (a). The defendant's sole claim on appeal is that
the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support
his conviction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The
jury reasonably could have found the following facts. On
August 18, 2014, Hamden Police Officers Greg Curran and
Enrique Rivera were patrolling by bicycle in the area of
Dixwell Avenue and the Farmington Canal Trail (trail). The
officers were assigned to this specific area in response to
reports of bicycle thefts and drug use by teens and young
adults. At approximately 6:12 p.m., Curran and Rivera
observed a young man walk across the trail in a westerly
direction toward Dixwell Avenue and cut through a hole in a
six-foot fence that separated the trail from the adjacent
property. Rivera, who was familiar with the cut in the fence,
pointed it out to Curran because he thought knowledge of the
hole might be useful in a future pursuit situation.
The
officers proceeded through the hole in the fence and entered
an adjacent parking lot situated behind several businesses.
Upon approaching the parking lot, Curran noticed a van parked
behind bushes that concealed the van's presence from
passersby on Dixwell Avenue. Curran testified that
‘‘[i]t was odd for them to be sitting there so
[he] went over to check on them.'' As Curran
approached the van he could see that there were two people in
the front seats.[1] As Curran approached the van, the front
seat passenger, later identified as the defendant, quickly
reached down behind the driver's seat. Curran, for safety
concerns, asked the defendant what he was reaching for. In
response, the defendant held up a used car magazine.
As
Curran was talking to the defendant, he noticed a third
individual, later identified as JonMichael Young, in the back
seat. At that point, Young reached down toward his seat, but
Curran asked him to place his hands on the headrest in front
of him. He complied. Curran questioned the driver, later
identified as Lachee McGee, as to why they were parked in
that area. She said that they were looking for frogs in a
nearby puddle. As Curran was talking to the occupants, he
observed two bundles of heroin on the center console next to
the defendant's left leg.[2] At this point, Rivera approached
the van on bicycle and Curran said
‘‘104'' to him, which was a police signal
indicating that drugs were present.
Curran
asked the defendant to exit the vehicle and stand near
Rivera, and he complied. As the defendant exited the vehicle,
Curran stood at the driver's window. He testified that
McGee looked down at the center console and, seeing the
bundles of heroin, picked up the used car magazine that the
defendant had displayed and placed it on top of the bundles
of heroin.[3] At this point, Curran asked McGee to turn
over the keys to the vehicle. Curran then was able to take
possession of the drugs that he had seen on the center
console.[4] The remaining occupants of the van were
removed from the vehicle and were detained by other officers
who had arrived on the scene.[5] The police searched the defendant
and found nothing of note on his person.
When
McGee exited the van and was patted down, police observed a
small pink glassine bag sticking out of the front of her
pants. The bag resembled the bags found on the center
console. When McGee was asked if she had any other drugs in
her possession, she answered positively and said that she had
shoved drugs down the front of her pants. A female officer
who had been called to the scene retrieved the drugs from the
front of McGee's pants. The officers seized nine bags of
narcotics from the person of McGee. Curran continued to
search the vehicle and discovered several other bags of
heroin on top of the center console, as well as a bottle of a
substance known as Super Mannitol.[6] In total, twenty-five pink
glassine bags were retrieved from the center console. A
search of the back seat revealed a white dinner plate, two
metal strainers, sixty pink glassine bags each filled with a
substance that later field-tested positive as heroin, and a
Ziploc type of bag with a large amount of the same substance.
Rivera also found bags stuffed between the seats in the rear
passenger area of the van where Young had been sitting. On
the basis of his training and experience, Curran believed
that he had interrupted the occupants while they were mixing
the heroin with the Super Mannitol in order to package the
narcotics for sale.
The
police seized ninety-four small bags and one larger bag, all
containing heroin. At trial, the seized evidence was
introduced as five exhibits as follows: (1) twenty-five pink
glassine bags containing powder that tested positive for
heroin and Super Mannitol and weighed 1.09 grams; (2) sixty
pink glassine bags that tested positive for heroin and
weighed 2.415 grams and contained Super Mannitol; (3) a
Ziploc bag containing powder that tested positive for heroin
and weighed 1.892 grams; (4) a white bottle containing Super
Mannitol, a mixing ...