Floyd Franklin Booker v. Commonwealth ( 1997 )

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judge Coleman and Senior Judge Cole
Argued at Richmond, Virginia
FLOYD FRANKLIN BOOKER
MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY
v. Record No. 1561-96-2 JUDGE SAM W. COLEMAN III
APRIL 22, 1997
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HENRICO COUNTY
Buford M. Parsons, Judge
(Robert J. Wagner; Wagner & Wagner, on
brief), for appellant. Appellant submitting
on brief.
(James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General;
Monica S. McElyea, Assistant Attorney
General, on brief), for appellee. Appellee
submitting on brief.
The defendant, Floyd Franklin Booker, was convicted in a
bench trial of two counts of distributing cocaine. On appeal, he
challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to prove the two
offenses of cocaine distribution. Finding no error, we affirm
the convictions.
Applying the established principles of appellate review, we
view the evidence in the light most favorable to the
Commonwealth, granting to it all reasonable inferences fairly
deducible therefrom. Martin v. Commonwealth, 4 Va. App. 438,
443, 358 S.E.2d 415, 418 (1987). "The judgment of a trial court
sitting without a jury is entitled to the same weight as a jury
*
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.
verdict and will not be set aside unless it appears from the
evidence that the judgment is plainly wrong or without evidence
to support it." Id.
Here, the dispositive questions are whether the evidence of
the drug transaction proved two sales or only a single sale to
two people and whether the certificate of analysis proved that
only one of the two rocks of cocaine that had been purchased was
analyzed. The evidence proved that the defendant sold two rocks
of cocaine to two police officers in separate transactions.
While the defendant and two undercover police officers were in a
van, the defendant gave a rock of cocaine to Officer Toney, who
then passed it to Officer Maxwell. The defendant then told the
officers he had a second rock and offered it to them. Officer
Maxwell responded, "Well give us both one." The record is
unclear on whether the defendant gave the second rock to Officer
Maxwell or Officer Toney. However, both officers gave the
defendant a twenty-dollar bill and they received two rocks of
cocaine. Thus, the evidence proves that two sales occurred.
The defendant contends that the certificate of analysis
shows that only one quantity of material was received and tested
because it described the tested matter as "solid material,"
therefore, the evidence was insufficient to prove that more than
one sale of rock cocaine occurred. The fact that the certificate
of analysis states that the lab received and tested "solid
material," does not prove that the quantity of items received was
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one; "solid material" refers only to the nature of the material.
Officer Walker testified that he received two rocks of cocaine
from Officer McCune, an officer who had been hiding in the back
of the van, and that he took both rocks of cocaine to the lab for
analysis. The trial court found that both rocks had been
received and tested.
Based on the foregoing facts, the evidence is sufficient to
support the trial court's finding that two distributions of
cocaine occurred. Accordingly, we affirm the defendant's
convictions.
Affirmed.
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