Clifton Ray Wooten v Commonwealth

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: 	Judges Baker, Annunziata and Senior Judge Hodges
Argued at Norfolk, Virginia
CLIFTON RAY WOOTEN MEMORANDUM OPINION*
v. 	Record No. 1059-95-1 	BY JUDGE JOSEPH E. BAKER
APRIL 9, 1996
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS
Robert P. Frank, Judge
Steven M. Oser (Oser, Twitty & Associates, on
brief), for appellant.
Eugene Murphy, Assistant Attorney Geneneral
(James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General, on
brief), for appellee.
Clifton Ray Wooten (appellant) appeals from his bench trial
conviction by the Circuit Court of the City of Newport News
(trial court) for possession of cocaine with the intent to
distribute. 	The sole issue presented is whether the evidence is
sufficient to sustain his conviction. 	Upon familiar principles,
we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the
Commonwealth, granting to it all reasonable inferences fairly
deducible therefrom. 	Higginbotham v. Commonwealth, 216 Va. 349,
352, 218 S.E.2d 534, 537 (1975). 	Viewed accordingly, we find the
evidence is sufficient to support appellant's conviction.
Appellant was arrested for driving without an operator's
license. 	The arrest occurred in a high-drug-activity area.
*Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.

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During a search of appellant incident to his arrest, police found
1.63 grams of rock cocaine in an orange medicine bottle located
in appellant's pocket. 	The cocaine was divided into numerous
small rocks and had a street value of approximately $100 to $140.
Police also recovered a pager and $83 in United States currency
from appellant. 	The money was folded separately and divided into
groups as follows: 	(1) one ten dollar bill; (2) two five dollar
bills; (3) two ten dollar bills and a one dollar bill; and (4)
two five dollar bills, eleven one dollar bills and one twenty
dollar bill.
Detective D. A. Graham (Graham), who qualified as an expert
in drug distribution, testified that appellant's possession of
the cocaine, coupled with the attendant circumstances, was
inconsistent with personal use. 	Graham based his opinion upon
his experience working as a narcotics detective, the location at
which appellant was arrested, the appearance of the folded money,
the packaging of the cocaine, the division of the cocaine into
numerous rocks, the presence of the pager, and the fact that
police did not find any paraphernalia used to smoke rock cocaine
in appellant's possession.
From the totality of the evidence, the fact finder could
infer beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant possessed cocaine
with the intent to distribute. 	Accordingly, the judgment of the
trial court is affirmed.
Affirmed.