Opinion ID: 723189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 5 Defendant claims there was insufficient evidence upon which he could be convicted on any of the charges. Evidence showed that Causey and O'Connor lived at the residence and that Causey was present when Hogan visited on the other occasions. When Causey was arrested at the residence on December 17, officers found within the premises 8.02 grams of packaged rocks of crack cocaine in a yellow plastic container, within a few feet of where Causey was when first seen by the search team, other quantities of crack cocaine in the kitchen, plus individually wrapped packets containing plant material and phencyclidine, and .48 grams of heroin. Moreover, various drug paraphernalia was found. That included a triple beam scale, packaging materials, strainers with white powder residue, spoons and razor blades with residue, and dinner plates with residue. A .38 caliber loaded revolver was found under the cushions of the couch within six to ten feet of where Causey was first seen at the time of the search. Other items found on the premises indicated that Causey lived there. 6 There was ample evidence to show that the defendant had possessed with intent to distribute the various controlled substances listed in the indictment, or aided and abetted O'Connor in doing so. Causey asserts that since he was charged with aiding and abetting, the prosecution had to prove that O'Connor was the principal, but there is no distinction between principals and accessories under 18 U.S.C. § 2. See Hammer v. United States, 271 U.S. 620, 628 (1926). The trafficking in drugs on the other dates when Hogan visited, and the fact that the controlled substances, especially the PCP and crack cocaine, were in small packages, indicates an intent to distribute. Moreover, inasmuch as Causey stipulated that he had previously been convicted of a felony, the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon was supported by the fact that the firearm in question was close to Causey at the time of the arrest, and that it had previously travelled in interstate commerce. No one else was present on the premises at the time Causey was arrested with the weapons close by. 7