Opinion ID: 1540324
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: manning's appeal

Text: Manning's appeal merits little discussion. He first claims that the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress evidence. In particular, he argues that because his lower body was obscured by the dashboard of his vehicle, the arrest team could not have matched him to the broadcast description. He therefore maintains that the police did not have probable cause to arrest him. Despite Manning's argument to the contrary, we find that, prior to Manning's identification by Officer Vanadia, the stop was not an arrest, but rather a brief detention designed to give the undercover officer an opportunity to advise the arrest team if they had apprehended the perpetrators. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); United States v. Allen, 436 A.2d 1303 (D.C.1981). Officer Serbinoff and his colleagues had an articulable basis for their suspicion that Manning and Ms. King were the persons described by Officer Vanadia. Appellants were located shortly after the drug transaction within a short distance of the location where it occurred. The arresting officer saw enough of the defendants' bodies to match them in a general way to the broadcast description. He therefore had the right to direct them to step out of the cara very minor intrusion indeedto obtain a better view of them. It was also reasonable, once the appellants were outside the car and the arrest team had recognized that they matched the descriptions provided by Officer Vanadia, to require them to leave the vehicle and walk a short distance away so that the undercover officer could ride by, view them, and determine whether the correct persons had been stopped. See Muldrow v. United States, 525 A.2d 1031 (D.C.1987). After appellants had been identified, there was probable cause for their arrest. Id. at 1032. Manning's second claim of error, that the trial court incorrectly denied his motion to suppress the show-up identification as unduly suggestive, is similarly without merit. The undercover officer was a trained police observer who had an adequate opportunity to view Manning during the drug transaction. Manning was presented to the undercover officer for a show-up identification shortly after the sale took place. Under the circumstances, Manning was not even entitled to an evidentiary hearing. See In re F.G., 534 A.2d 297 (D.C.1987), pet. for reh'g granted, 550 A.2d 915 (D.C.1988). Finally, Manning contends that the trial court improperly denied his motion for judgment of acquittal, because the prosecutor failed to prove that he distributed a usable amount of P.C.P. The government's evidence at trial demonstrated that the defendants offered the drugs for sale on the street, folded in the usual tin foil package, and exuding the pungent odor of P.C.P. The chemist's report indicated that the total weight of the substance in the tin foil package was 412.5 milligrams. Of that total, 2.4% was P.C.P. and 97.6% was marijuana. The government's expert testified that the amount was usable, an opinion not controverted in any way by either appellant. Under the circumstances, the trial court properly denied Manning's motion for judgment of acquittal and submitted the case to the jury. See Wishop v. United States, 531 A.2d 1005 (D.C.1987).