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Sample v. Commonwealth12/9/2003
A jury found Albert Wayne Sample guilty of possession of Oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, with intent to distribute in violation of Code § 18.2-248(C). On appeal, Sample contends that the evidence fails, as a matter of law, to prove his intent to distribute beyond a reasonable doubt. Finding no such error in the verdict, we affirm.
I.
When examining a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, "the evidence and all reasonable inferences flowing therefrom must be viewed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party in the trial court." Commonwealth v. Hudson, 265 Va. 505, 514, 578 S.E.2d 781, 786 (2003) (citations omitted). That principle requires us to "discard the evidence of the accused in conflict with that of the Commonwealth, and regard as true all the credible evidence favorable to the Commonwealth and all fair inferences that may be drawn therefrom." Craddock v. Commonwealth, 40 Va. App. 539, 542, 580 S.E.2d 454, 456 (2003) (citations omitted).
On April 22, 2003, a confidential informant told Glenn D. Hyatt, chief investigator for the Grayson County Sheriff's Department, that a car had been stolen in Maryland and would be in the Grayson County area. The informant described the car as a blue Ford Mustang, gave Hyatt three specific locations where he might find it, and stated that the car would contain two bags of Oxycontin.
The next morning, Hyatt spotted a gray Mustang parked at the residence of Mark Martin Spicer, one of the locations provided by the informant. The vehicle had Maryland tags. Hyatt, who was off duty at the time, obtained the license plate number, contacted the sheriff department's dispatcher by cell phone, and asked the dispatcher to run the tags. Based on information on the license plate number, the dispatcher advised Hyatt that the vehicle had been stolen.
Hyatt and three deputies approached the residence and verified the Mustang's VIN. Hyatt testified that "you could tell that the vehicle had been primered" with gray paint. The officers knocked on the door of the residence a number of times with no response. Hyatt then looked inside the vehicle's passenger compartment and found an unmarked, white envelope in the console containing 8 "OC/80" pills and 51 "Percocet/7.5" pills. At this point, Sample came out of the front door of the residence. Sample stated that he had been driving the vehicle and gave Hyatt the keys. Hyatt then placed Sample under arrest for possession of stolen property.
On the way to Hyatt's car, Sample spontaneously stated that all of the property inside the vehicle belonged to him. Hyatt drove Sample to the sheriff's department while the three deputies conducted an inventory search of the vehicle and waited for a tow truck to remove the vehicle from the residence. During the inventory, the deputies found a blue, plastic bag in the trunk that contained an unmarked, white envelope with 21 "OC/80" pills and 115 "Percocet/7.5" pills.
Sample went to trial before a jury on an indictment alleging possession of Oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, with intent to distribute in violation of Code § 18.2-248(C). At trial, the Commonwealth presented a certificate of analysis from the state forensics laboratory demonstrating that all but four of the pills contained Oxycodone. Testifying as an expert witness, Hyatt explained that Oxycodone is a "major abused drug" in the illegal narcotics trade, with the Percocet tablets selling for $10 per pill and the Oxycontin "OC/80" tablets selling for $80 a pill. The total street value of the Oxycodone pills found in the Mustang, Hyatt estimated, totaled $3,980. Hyatt also testified that he read Sample h
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