Straughn v. State
Straughn v. State
Opinion
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 494
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 495
The State's application for rehearing on intervening remand is granted. See Bishop v. State,
David F. Straughn was convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of marijuana in the first degree, violations of §
The evidence adduced at trial indicated the following. In April 2000, a member of a hunting club contacted Mark Odom and Jody Scott, who were, at that time, members of the Red Level Police Department, and informed them that he had discovered marijuana plants growing in the woods where he hunted. Investigator Odom went to the area identified by the informant and located a patch of approximately 18 marijuana plants. The plants were in the woods, at the end of a dead-end road. Investigator Odom then decided to set up a video surveillance of the site. Because the Red Level Police Department did not have the equipment necessary to conduct the video surveillance, Investigator Odom contacted the Andalusia Police Department and asked for assistance.
On April 18, 2000, Mike Bowlan, at that time a detective with the Andalusia Police Department, brought two motion-activated video cameras to the area and set them up; one camera was placed near the road leading to the woods where the marijuana plants were located, and the other camera was placed inside the patch of marijuana plants. Two days later, on April 20, 2000, the officers checked the cameras to see if any activity had been recorded. The road-side camera had recorded two white males in a blue Chevrolet pickup truck driving down the road on April 20, 2000, but the camera in the patch had not recorded anything. On May 3, 2000, the officers again checked the cameras. This time, the road-side camera had recorded the same blue Chevrolet pickup truck driving down the road and parking near the woods, and it recorded a man with long hair getting out of the truck and then walking into the woods; several minutes later, the camera recorded the same man walking back to the truck and removing a "turkey hunter's mask" from his head. The camera in the patch had recorded a man wearing a turkey hunter's mask and tall snakeskin boots watering or otherwise tending the marijuana plants. The camera in the patch indicated that the man was tending the marijuana plants at the same time that the road-side camera recorded the same man near the truck.3 Officer Scott testified *Page 497 that when he viewed the videotape of the activity and saw the man removing the turkey hunter's mask from his head, he recognized the man in the video as Straughn, whom he knew personally, and that he recognized the truck in the video as Straughn's because he had previously seen Straughn driving the truck and had seen it parked at Straughn's residence.
On May 4, 2000, Investigator Odom obtained a search warrant for Straughn's residence and property. That same day, he and other officers executed the warrant; they searched Straughn's mobile home, a blue Chevrolet pickup truck belonging to Straughn's wife, Betty, parked outside the home, a greenhouse in the backyard, and the property surrounding the mobile home. Straughn, his wife, and his stepson were present at the time of the search. During the search, the officers discovered, among other things, a wooden smoking device, a Coca-Cola soft-drink can fashioned into a smoking device, numerous firearms, two turkey hunter's masks, a five-gallon bucket similar to the bucket used by the man who had been videotaped tending the marijuana plants in the woods, rolling papers, several containers of Miracle-Gro brand plant food and other chemicals used to enhance plant growth, and several small marijuana plants and seedlings. When the officers executed the search, Straughn was wearing snakeskin boots identical to those the man who had been videotaped at the patch had been wearing; the officers also discovered a hemostat, a device often used to hold a marijuana cigarette, in the front pocket of Straughn's overalls.
Straughn was indicted for two counts of possession of marijuana in the first degree — one count was based on the marijuana patch found in the woods and one count was based on the numerous marijuana plants and seedlings found on his property during the search. He was also indicted for possession of drug paraphernalia based on the various smoking devices found in his mobile home, the hemostat found in his pocket, and the various plant chemicals found on his property. The jury found him guilty on all three counts.
The affidavit submitted by Investigator Odom in support of the search warrant states, in pertinent part:
"My name is Mark Odom and I am an Investigator with the Red Level, Alabama Police Department. During the course of my duties as such, I had a patch of growing marijuana that had been discovered, under surveillance with two video cameras. While videoing this patch, the camera recording the patch recorded a white male, wearing a turkey hunters mask, enter the patch of growing marijuana; and begin to tend the crop of marijuana. I videotaped this event and had another video camera set up along the road where the man's pickup had been parked, and when he returned to his vehicle, it was able to record him removing his mask and I was able to identify the man as David F. Straughn. I observed from the tapes that the truck that he was traveling on was a Chevrolet pickup truck made between 1980 and 1982 and was dark blue in color with white spoke wheels and the hood of the truck was lighter colored *Page 498 than the body of the truck. Myself and other police officers began a surveillance of the aforedescribed residence of David F. Straughn and have observed this same pickup truck parked at that residence.
"Therefore I have reason to believe and do believe that the aforenamed David F. Straughn is concealing in the aforedescribed residence, out-buildings, and vehicle; marijuana and/or the evidence of and/or the implements, tools, and other objects of paraphernalia used in the cultivation of marijuana, which is in violation of the Drug Crimes Amendment Act of 1987."
(C. 113b-113c.)
As for Straughn's contention that the items seized as a result of the warrant should have been suppressed because of an allegedly false statement contained in the affidavit, Investigator Odom did testify at the suppression hearing that he had "never been" to Straughn's residence "prior to . . . getting the search warrant." (R. 31.) However, Straughn never argued to the trial court that there was a false statement in the affidavit that somehow invalidated the affidavit and rendered the search illegal, see Ex parte Parker, [Ms. 1010487, January 17, 2003]
Moreover, even if this argument were preserved for appellate review, we find no merit to it.4 As noted above, Investigator Odom testified at the suppression hearing that "prior to getting the search warrant" he "had never been to the defendant's home." (R. 31.) However, he stated in the affidavit that "[m]yself and other police officers began a surveillance of the aforedescribed residence of David F. Straughn and have observed this same pickup truck parked at that residence." (C. 26.) Although Investigator Odom's two statements appear, on their face, to be contradictory, the language Investigator Odom used does not preclude the possibility that both statements are true. The surveillance to which Investigator Odom referred in his affidavit could have been conducted by other officers, with Investigator Odom acting only in a supervisory capacity and not present during the surveillance. Indeed, nothing in the record, including Investigator Odom's testimony, indicates that no surveillance of Straughn's residence was conducted by any police officer. Investigator Odom's testimony indicates only that he, personally, had never been to Straughn's residence before he obtained the search warrant; that testimony indicates only that Investigator Odom did not personally conduct the surveillance to which he referred in his affidavit. Thus, Investigator Odom's testimony at the suppression hearing that he had never been to Straughn's residence before he obtained the warrant and his statement in the affidavit that he "and other officers began" surveillance of Straughn's residence before he obtained the warrant are not necessarily inconsistent. Although the affidavit could have been better worded, based on the record before us, we are not persuaded by Straughn's argument that the information in the affidavit was, in fact, false. *Page 499
As for Straughn's contention that there was not a sufficient nexus between the marijuana patch in the woods and his residence to justify the search of his home, we are inclined to agree. Straughn cites Ex partePerry,
Here, as in Ex parte Perry, the mere fact that officers observed Straughn tending the marijuana patch on a neutral site, i.e., one that was not a part of his residence, was simply insufficient to establish a nexus to search Straughn's residence. Nothing in the affidavit indicated that drugs or paraphernalia were being kept at Straughn's residence as opposed to some other location, and there is no indication in the record that the magistrate who issued the warrant was presented with any information or evidence other than the affidavit. "[A] defendant's possession of illegal drugs does not, without more, make reasonable a search of the defendant's residence." Ex parte Perry,
However, our holding that the warrant was invalid is not the end of our analysis. The State argues that, even if there was no showing of probable cause to obtain the warrant, the evidence seized in this case was properly admitted under the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule. We agree.5 "The good faith exception provides that when officers acting in good faith, that is, in objectively reasonable reliance on a warrant issued by a neutral, detached magistrate, conduct a search and the warrant is found to be invalid, the evidence need not be excluded." Rivers v. State,
"In the ordinary case, an officer cannot be expected to question the magistrate's probable-cause determination or his judgment that the form of the warrant is technically sufficient. '[O]nce the warrant issues, there is literally nothing more the policeman can do in seeking to comply with the law.' [Stone v. Powell],United States v. Leon,428 U.S. [465 ,] at 498 [(1976)] (Burger, C.J., concurring)."
In Leon, the United States Supreme Court recognized four circumstances in which the good-faith exception was inapplicable: (1) when the magistrate or judge relies on information in an affidavit that the affiant knew was false or would have known was false except for his reckless disregard of the truth; (2) when the magistrate wholly abandons his judicial role and fails to act in a neutral and detached manner; (3) when the warrant is based on an affidavit so lacking an indicia of probable cause as to render official belief in its existence entirely unreasonable; and (4) when the warrant is so facially deficient that the executing officer cannot reasonably presume it to be valid.
In this case, none of those circumstances were present to negate the good-faith exception. As noted above, based on the record before us, we cannot say that the affidavit in support of the warrant contained false information, and nothing in the record indicates that the issuing magistrate failed to act in a neutral and detached manner. Finally, we cannot say that the warrant was so facially deficient or lacking an indicia of probable cause as to make it unreasonable for Investigator Odom to believe it was valid. In this case, Investigator Odom obtained the warrant to search Straughn's residence on May 4, 2000, almost a year before the Alabama Supreme Court decided Ex parte Perry. If Investigator Odom had submitted the affidavit after the Alabama Supreme Court had decided Ex parte Perry, the State's "good-faith" argument would have failed. See generally Ex parte Lemus,
Because the good-faith exception applies in this case, the evidence seized was properly admitted, despite the fact that the affidavit supporting the search warrant *Page 501 was deficient. The trial court properly denied Straughn's motion to suppress.
After opening statements, outside the hearing of the jury, the trial court stated that it understood that there was "going to be some argument about the admissibility of the tape." (R. 72.) Straughn's trial counsel answered affirmatively and requested that the admissibility of the videotape be argued outside of the presence of the jury. The trial court then held a hearing outside the presence of the jury, during which the State called Commander Bowlan to testify regarding the videotape. Commander Bowlan testified about his experience and training in operating the equipment that he had used and about certain details concerning the equipment. He stated that, to the best of his knowledge, the equipment had operated properly; that the cameras had recorded on eight-millimeter tapes, which had been copied onto one videotape; and that Officer Scott had identified the appellant as the person on the tape. Commander Bowlan acknowledged that he had not synchronized the clocks on the two cameras when he set them up. During Commander Bowlan's testimony, the trial court instructed Commander Bowlan to view the videotape that the State was seeking to introduce into evidence to ascertain whether it was a true and accurate copy of the original eight-millimeter tapes. When Commander Bowlan finished viewing the videotape, he testified that it was a true and accurate copy of the eight-millimeter tapes that had recorded the marijuana patch and the road leading to the marijuana patch, and that the fact that the timers were not synchronized did not affect the reliability or accuracy of the equipment.
After Commander Bowlan's testimony, Straughn's trial counsel objected to the introduction of the videotape on the grounds that the State had failed to lay the proper predicate under Voudrie, supra, and that the original eight-millimeter tapes had not been produced during discovery. In response, the prosecutor argued that he had laid the proper predicate for admission of the videotape and that he had notified Straughn's counsel over a year before trial of the existence of the eight-millimeter tapes and had made those tapes available to Straughn's counsel, but that Straughn's counsel had never requested to see the tapes. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court ruled that the videotape was admissible.
Initially, we note that the State argues on appeal that Straughn failed to preserve this issue for review because, it says, he did not raise this issue in the trial court by objecting when the State introduced the videotape into evidence. However, as can be seen from the aforementioned exchange that occurred just after opening statements outside of the presence of the jury, Straughn clearly preserved this argument for our review. Although the State is correct that Straughn did not object when the State introduced the videotape into evidence or when the videotape was played for the jury, he did object before the State ever attempted to introduce the videotape into evidence, and the *Page 502 trial court heard arguments and testimony on the issue during a hearing outside the presence of the jury. The trial court ruled that the videotape was admissible, and that ruling was clearly a final ruling on the admissibility of the videotape. Contrary to the State's argument, Straughn did challenge the admissibility of the videotape at trial; his objection was timely (before the videotape was even offered by the State); and he received an adverse ruling. Therefore, this issue is properly before this Court for review.
"Generally, videotapes are governed by the same rules of evidence as still photographs, and their admissibility is a matter addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court." Ivery v. State,
In Ex parte Rieber,
"'The "silent witness" theory is that a photograph, etc., is admissible, even in the absence of an observing or sensing witness, because the process or mechanism by which the photograph, etc., is made ensures reliability and trustworthiness. In essence, the process or mechanism substitutes for the witness's senses, and because the process or mechanism is explained before the photograph, etc., is admitted, the trust placed in its truthfulness comes from the proposition that, had a witness been there, the witness would have sensed what the photograph, etc., records. Wigmore [on Evidence], . . . § 790 [(1970 Supp. 1991)], and [2 John W. Strong,] McCormick [on Evidence], . . . § 214 [(1992)].
"'A reasonable reading of Voudrie v. State,
387 So.2d 248 (Ala.Crim.App. 1980), cert. denied,387 So.2d 256 (Ala. 1980); Carraway v. State,583 So.2d 993 (Ala.Crim.App. 1991), cert. denied,583 So.2d 997 (Ala. 1991); Molina v. State,533 So.2d 701 (Ala.Crim.App. 1988), cert. denied,489 U.S. 1086 ,109 S.Ct. 1547 ,103 L.Ed.2d 851 (1989),] and the more recent caselaw of the Court of Criminal Appeals leads us to conclude that the Court of Criminal Appeals is of the opinion that the "pictorial communication" and "silent witness" theories are mutually exclusive theories, rather than alternative theories. The proper foundation required for admission into evidence of a sound recording or other medium by which a scene or event is recorded (e.g., a photograph, motion picture, videotape, etc.) depends upon the particular circumstances. If there is no qualified and competent witness who can testify that the sound recording or other medium accurately and reliably represents what he or she sensed at the time in question, then the "silent witness" foundation must be laid. Under the "silent witness" theory, a witness must explain how the process or mechanism that created the item works and how the process or mechanism ensures reliability. When the "silent witness" theory is used, the party seeking to have the sound recording or other medium admitted *Page 503 into evidence must meet the seven-prong Voudrie test. Rewritten to have more general application, the Voudrie standard requires:"'(1) a showing that the device or process or mechanism that produced the item being offered as evidence was capable of recording what a witness would have seen or heard had a witness been present at the scene or event recorded,
"'(2) a showing that the operator of the device or process or mechanism was competent,
"'(3) establishment of the authenticity and correctness of the resulting recording, photograph, videotape, etc.[,]
"'(4) a showing that no changes, additions, or deletions have been made[,]
"'(5) a showing of the manner in which the recording, photograph, videotape, etc., was preserved[,]
"'(6) identification of the speakers, or persons pictured, and
"'(7) for criminal cases only, a showing that any statement made in the recording, tape, etc., was voluntarily made without any kind of coercion or improper inducement.'"6
Commander Bowlan testified about the placement of the cameras, and about his training and experience with video cameras. He stated that the videotape was a true and accurate copy of the eight-millimeter tapes that had recorded the marijuana patch and the road leading to the patch; that the cameras had been operating properly; and that the fact that the timers had not been synchronized did not affect the reliability or accuracy of the equipment. Additionally, Officer Scott testified that he was able to identify Straughn from the videotape and that he recognized the truck shown on the videotape to be Straughn's. This testimony was sufficient to meet the requirements of the "silent-witness" theory. Therefore, the trial court did not err in admitting the videotape into evidence.
"'In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, a reviewing court must accept as true all evidence introduced by the State, accord the State all legitimate inferences therefrom, and consider all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution.'"Ballenger v. State,
Cumbo v. State,"In reviewing a conviction based on circumstantial evidence, this court must view that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. The test to be applied is whether the jury might reasonably find that the evidence excluded every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt; not whether such evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis but guilt, but whether a jury might reasonably so conclude. United States v. Black,
497 F.2d 1039 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. McGlamory,441 F.2d 130 (5th Cir. 1971); Clark v. United States,293 F.2d 445 (5th Cir. 1961)."'[W]e must keep in mind that the test to be applied is not simply whether in the opinion of the trial judge or the appellate court the evidence fails to exclude every reasonable hypothesis but that of guilt; but rather whether the jury might so conclude. Harper v. United States,
405 F.2d 185 (5th Cir. 1969); Roberts v. United States,416 F.2d 1216 (5th Cir. 1969). The procedure for appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence has been aptly set out in Odom v. United States,377 F.2d 853 ,855 (5th Cir. 1967):"'Our obligation, therefore, is to examine the record to determine whether there is any theory of the evidence from which the jury might have excluded every hypothesis except guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Rua v. United States, 5 Cir., 1963,
321 F.2d 140 ; Riggs v. United States, 5 Cir., 1960,280 F.2d 949 . In Judge Thornberry's words,"'". . . the standard utilized by this Court is not whether in our opinion the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom failed to exclude every hypothesis other than guilt, but rather whether there was evidence from which the jury might reasonably so conclude." Williamson v. United States, 5th Cir., 1966,
365 F.2d 12 ,14 . (Emphasis supplied)."'The sanctity of the jury function demands that this court never substitute its decision for that of the jury. Our obligation is [to] examine the welter of evidence to determine if there exists any reasonable theory from which the jury might have concluded that the defendant was guilty of the crime charged.' McGlamory,
441 F.2d at 135 and 136."
"Possession, whether actual or constructive, has the following three attributes: (1) '[A]ctual or potential physical control, (2) intention to exercise dominion and (3) external manifestations of intent and control.'" Wallace v. State,
"'When constructive possession is relied on, the prosecution must also prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused had knowledge of the presence of the controlled substances. Campbell v. State, [
439 So.2d 718 (Ala.Cr.App.), rev'd on other grounds,439 So.2d 723 (Ala. 1983)]; Yarbrough v. State,405 So.2d 721 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied,405 So.2d 725 (Ala. 1981). This knowledge may be inferred from the accused's exclusive possession, ownership, and control of the premises. Temple v. State,366 So.2d 740 (Ala.Cr.App. 1978). When the accused is not in exclusive possession of the premises, however, this knowledge may not be inferred unless there are other circumstances tending to buttress this inference. Korreckt v. State,507 So.2d 558 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986); Temple v. State, [366 So.2d at 743 ]. While non-exclusive possession may raise a suspicion that all the occupants had knowledge of the contraband found, a mere suspicion is not enough. Some evidence that connects a defendant with the contraband is required. Grubbs v. State,462 So.2d 995 (Ala.Cr.App. 1984); Temple v. State.'"Robinette v. State,
531 So.2d 682 ,686 (Ala.Cr.App. 1987), rev'd on other grounds,531 So.2d 697 (Ala. 1988).
". . . .
"In Temple v. State,
366 So.2d 740 (Ala.Cr.App. 1978), this court provided a non-exclusive list of circumstances that may establish a connection between a defendant and the contraband found on the defendant's property when the defendant is not in exclusive possession of the premises."'While the kinds of circumstances which may provide a connection between a defendant and the contraband are unlimited and will naturally depend on the facts of each particular case, 56 A.L.R.3d 948 (1974), it has generally been stated that:
"'"The kinds of circumstances which provide such connection are: (1) evidence that excludes all other possible possessors; (2) evidence of actual possession; (3) evidence that the defendant had substantial control over the particular place where the contraband was found; (4) admissions of the defendant that provide the necessary connection, which includes both verbal admissions and conduct that evidences a consciousness of guilt when the defendant is confronted with the possibility that an illicit drug will be found; (5) evidence that debris of the contraband was found on the defendant's person or with his personal effects; (6) evidence which shows that the defendant, at the time of the arrest, had either used the contraband very shortly before, or was under its influence.
"'"The kinds of evidence which might be relevant, but which by themselves do not add the necessary connection are: (1) admissions of previous use; (2) conduct that might be construed as evidencing a consciousness of guilt which was not displayed upon the defendant's confrontation of the possibility that an *Page 506 illicit drug would be discovered; (3) evidence of previous use; (4) evidence that showed the defendant's physical proximity to the contraband."
"'9 Land and Water L.Rev. 236, 248-49 (1974).'
Posey v. State,
In this case, there was sufficient evidence establishing that Straughn was in actual or constructive possession of both the marijuana plants in the woods and the marijuana plants and seedlings on his property. The evidence tended to show that in April 2000 Investigator Odom and Officer Scott received information that someone was growing marijuana on nearby hunting land. The police set up a video surveillance of the area, and Straughn's truck was twice recorded going down the dead-end road toward the marijuana patch — on one of those occasions, a man wearing a turkey hunter's mask was recorded tending the marijuana plants in the woods, and, thereafter, a man wearing similar clothing was recorded next to a truck identified as Straughn's removing the turkey hunter's mask; Officer Scott positively identified that man as Straughn. This evidence was sufficient to establish that Straughn was in actual possession of the marijuana found at the patch in the woods. In addition, Straughn's actual possession of the marijuana found at the patch in the woods, coupled with the drug paraphernalia found during the search of his residence, was sufficient to establish that Straughn had knowledge of the marijuana plants and seedlings on his own property.
Therefore, the trial court did not err in denying Straughn's motions for a judgment of acquittal.
"Because the marijuana found on Straughn's property and the marijuana found at the neutral site were part of a single growing operation, Straughn's separate convictions for possession violated the principles of double jeopardy, and the trial court lacked jurisdiction to adjudge Straughn guilty of the second count of possession of marijuana in the first degree after he had already been adjudged guilty of the first count of possession of marijuana in the first degree, based on marijuana that was a part of the same operation. Therefore, this case must be remanded for the trial court to vacate Straughn's conviction and sentence for the second count of possession of marijuana in the first degree."
The trial court complied with our instructions and vacated Straughn's conviction and sentence on the second count of possession of marijuana in the first degree.
Upon further review, however, we now conclude that our original holding with respect to the conviction and sentence on the second count was inconsistent with existing caselaw, as exemplified by our decision inHarris v. State,
"In Harris v. State,
563 So.2d 9 (Ala.Crim.App. 1989), the defendant was indicted for four counts of possession of *Page 507 obscene material, violations of §13A-12-192 (B), Ala. Code 1975. Harris filed a '"motion to dismiss the indictment as being multiplicitous, or in the alternative, motion to compel an election by the State as to the count it intends to prosecute."'563 So.2d at 9 . The trial court denied the motion, and Harris subsequently pleaded guilty and received concurrent sentences of five years in prison. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that Harris had waived this argument by pleading guilty subsequent to the denial of his motion, but continued:"'Harris was charged in a four-count indictment with four separate violations of §
13A-12-192 (b). Count one alleged the possession of a pornographic magazine. Counts two, three, and four each involved the possession of a different video cassette tape. Harris contends that he should have been convicted and sentenced for only one offense, because the magazine and cassette tapes were seized from his residence on the same occasion. We recognize that this argument may have considerable merit. See United States v. Meyer,602 F. Supp. 1480 ,1480-81 (S.D.Cal. 1985) (the appropriate union of prosecution for offenses of transportation of material involving sexual exploitation of children and importation of obscene material, arising from defendant's transporting several photographs in one binder, was one count for each offense, rather than one count for each photograph for each offense); Braunstein v. Frawley,64 A.D.2d 772 ,407 N.Y.S.2d 250 ,253 (1978) ("[t]the promotion or possession of more than one item at the same time and on the same date constitutes one crime, and cannot be split into as many crimes as there are items"); State v. Smith,323 N.C. 439 ,373 S.E.2d 435 ,438 (1988) ("[o]ther courts have similarly held that a single transaction involving obscene materials constitutes but one offense"). See also United States v. Kinsley,518 F.2d 665 (8th Cir. 1975) (possession of firearms); Vogel v. State,426 So.2d 863 ,878-82 (Ala.Cr.App. 1980), affirmed,426 So.2d 882 (Ala. 1982), cert. denied,462 U.S. 1107 ,103 S.Ct. 2456 ,77 L.Ed.2d 1335 (1983) (possession of drugs); Owens, Alabama's Minority Status: A Single Criminal Act Injuring Multiple Persons Constitutes Only a Single Offense, 16 Cum. L.Rev. 85, 105-06 (1985) (discussed in McKinney v. State,511 So.2d 220 (Ala. 1987)). However, this issue has not been preserved for review.'
Girard, ___ So.2d at ___. See also McNish v. State,[Ms. CR-98-0654, February 4, 2000] ___ So.2d ___ (Ala.Crim.App. 2000), rev'd on other grounds, [Ms. 1991233, February 7, 2003] ___ So.2d ___ (Ala. 2003).
In the present case, Straughn did not argue in the trial court, and he does not argue on appeal, that his separate convictions for possession violated the principles of double jeopardy. This case is, therefore, controlled by Harris, and is distinguishable from Rolling v. State,
"Based on the above discussion, the trial court's judgment finding Rolling guilty of both crimes was error. We hold that, particularly pursuant to §13A-1-8 (b)(1), [Ala. Code 1975,] the court was without jurisdiction to adjudge Rolling guilty of manslaughter. Thus, this issue is exempted from the procedural bar presented by the expiration of the limitations period of Rule 32."
Since the decision in Rolling, this Court has continued to hold that certain double-jeopardy claims implicate the jurisdiction of the trial court and, therefore, are not subject to waiver. See, e.g., Powell v.State, [Ms. CR-00-2435, September 27, 2002] ___ So.2d ___ (Ala.Crim.App. 2002); Deas v. State, [Ms. CR-01-0608, June 28, 2002] ___ So.2d ___ (Ala.Crim.App. 2002); Hale v. State,
However, caselaw from both this Court and the Alabama Supreme Court recognize that generally other double-jeopardy claims are singularly constitutional in nature and are, therefore, subject to waiver. See, e.g., Ex parte Ziglar,
As previously noted, the present case is materially indistinguishable from Harris, supra. Rolling is not implicated in this case. Furthermore, this case, like Harris, involves a multicount indictment alleging separate offenses. Unlike Lorance, supra, where the indictment on its face alleged in separate counts alternative methods of committing a single offense, the indictment here alleged separate offenses of possession of marijuana in the first degree. Although the evidence at trial established that the marijuana found *Page 509 on Straughn's property and the marijuana found at the neutral site were part of a single growing operation and, thus, constituted a single act of possession under the rationale of Townsend, supra, Straughn did not argue that the evidence was insufficient to support separate convictions based on the jury's findings of separate acts of possession. Stated differently, Straughn's conviction under the second count is not supported by the evidence; however, other than as noted in part III of this opinion, the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction was never raised as an issue in the trial court. In Townsend, this Court stated:
"[W]e conclude that Townsend was properly prosecuted and convicted for the crime of trafficking in cocaine. The trial court properly denied Townsend's motion for a judgment of acquittal. We also note, in conclusion, that the propriety of aggregating separate quantities of a controlled substance depends on the particular facts in question. Only an analysis of the facts will dictate whether a defendant's possession was sufficiently differentiated by time or location as to constitute separate units for prosecution or whether it constitutes a single offense."
Based on the foregoing, we hold that Straughn's conviction and sentence for possession of drug paraphernalia and both of his convictions and sentences for possession of marijuana are due to be affirmed. This Court's February 28, 2003, opinion directing the trial court to vacate the conviction and sentence on the second count was in error. Therefore, we remand this case to the trial court for it to reinstate the conviction and sentence on the second count of possession of marijuana in the first degree. Due return shall be filed with this Court no later than 35 days from the date of this opinion.
APPLICATION GRANTED; OPINION DATED FEBRUARY 28, 2003, WITHDRAWN; OPINION SUBSTITUTED; REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
McMILLAN, P.J., and COBB and WISE, JJ., concur. BASCHAB, J., concurs in the result.
"Now, I will also tell you that with regard to the charge of possession of marijuana in the first degree that by statute this charge can be proved in two different ways. And in this case one defendant, defendant David Straughn, is charged under one theory or section of the statute, and the other defendant, Mrs. Betty Straughn, is charged under the other theory or section of the statute. And I will tell you what the particular elements are of each section as it relates to the charge against each defendant individually. So pay careful attention to that and you'll understand what I'm talking about."Now, the defendant David Straughn is charged in Count One and Count Two with two separate charges of unlawful possession of marijuana in the first degree. Now, under the statute applicable to Mr. Straughn, I will tell you that a person commits the crime of unlawful possession of marijuana in the first degree if he possesses marijuana for his personal use only after he has already been previously convicted of either possession of marijuana in the second degree or unlawful possession of marijuana for his personal use only.
"To convict under Count One or Count Two the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following elements of unlawful possession of marijuana in the first degree. First, that the defendant David Straughn did possess marijuana for his personal use only after having been previously convicted of either unlawful possession of marijuana in the second degree or unlawful possession of marijuana for his personal use only. And two, that the defendant acted knowingly."
(R. 515-16.) Therefore, we assume that the jury found Straughn guilty of violating §
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