Opinion ID: 510631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Gay

Text: 44 Once we have established the basic contours of our analysis along the lines described above, we have no difficulty concluding that there also was sufficient evidence to support Gay's conviction. Gay also traveled up to Maine to meet with Cunniff. In a videotaped meeting, he grilled Cunniff on whether he was a law enforcement official. He then bragged that I can sell a lot of pot and I've sold a lot of pot. Gay inspected two samples of marijuana, and began to bargain with Cunniff and Dworken over the amount and price of the sale. He claimed to be able to sell whatever you have not committed up to this point.... in probably about a month. He offered a downpayment of $250,000 to $500,000, but suggested that he would reject the drugs if they were not up to his desired quality. He made an offer of $300 per pound, and tentatively agreed to take 30,000 pounds. Gay attempted to get Cunniff to come to New York to receive the down-payment, but Cunniff resisted. Gay admitted that the acceptable details of a possible deal had been worked out by his group before he came to Maine. Cunniff was to send the marijuana to Gay's own warehouse for inspection and transfer. Gay agreed to take delivery by Friday, and to transfer the money after he had seen the goods. He bragged repeatedly about his ability to handle, or get rid of, 30,000 pounds. Gay finally stated that he would discuss Cunniff's offer with his partner, and come back to you and I'll give you my counter proposal. 12 45 It is eminently clear that Gay intended to purchase a large quantity of marijuana. His negotiations, offers,counterproposals, and agreements clearly indicate and corroborate a serious design to possess with intent to distribute. Like Rogove, Gay would purchase only on certain conditions, but as we have explained above, contingent intent does not negate criminal intent unless it is unreasonable to assume that the conditions precedent will be met. In this case, Gay had every reason to believe that his conditions were reasonable; indeed, he expended much energy attempting to persuade Cunniff that they were more reasonable than those suggested by Cunniff himself. The jury was justified in finding that Gay had attempted to possess narcotics for the purpose of distributing them.