Opinion ID: 607639
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant Tyler

Text: 7 Previously convicted co-conspirator, Randy Hailey, testified regarding defendant-Tyler's knowledge of, and participation in the conspiracy. Hailey had agreed to sell drugs for the organization in Flint. To that end, Hailey received drugs from drug houses in Detroit, where he saw defendant-Tyler preparing and packaging crack cocaine for distribution. According to Hailey, defendant-Tyler and an accomplice prepared approximately 100 packages of cocaine for Hailey to sell in Flint, a fact clearly evidencing an agreement to sell drugs. This evidence, alone, supports, defendant-Tyler's conviction. 8 Detroit Police Officer Kenneth Tye also testified about defendant-Tyler's involvement in the conspiracy. Tye stopped defendant-Tyler's vehicle on numerous occasions, resulting in more than one arrest. On each occasion, Tye noticed that defendant-Tyler (1) frequently wore an expensive bullet-proof vest, (2) consistently wore expensive clothing and drove expensive cars, despite a lack of employment, (3) used a false name, (4) frequently visited areas near drug houses, and (5) actually visited drug houses that were controlled by the conspirators. Collectively, this evidence provides additional support for defendant-Tyler's conviction. 9 Defendant-Tyler's argument notwithstanding, the government did not rely on mere conjuncture, nor did it achieve a conviction by merely associating defendant-Tyler with the Detroit/Flint drug culture. With the aid of direct testimony and strong circumstantial evidence, the government produced evidence from which a jury could find each element of each crime charged against defendant-Tyler beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, defendant-Tyler's sufficiency of the evidence claim fails.