Court Opinion

ID: 9847641
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:03:54.279217+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:24.620307
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Judge,
concurring specially.
1. This case is a little more subtle than we are pointing out.
It was charged in Count 1 that Moser and others did “deliver, sell, dispense, distribute and possess with the intent to distribute . . . cocaine,” tracking some of the language of what is known as the trafficking statute, OCGA § 16-13-30.1 (a) (1). Count 2 charged that they did “deliver, sell and actually possess 28 grams and more than 28 grams of cocaine,” thus including some of the language of sections 30.1 (a) (1) and 31 (a) (1). The third count charged that Moser and others “did . . . conspire to commit . . . trafficking in cocaine, and . . . did overt acts to effect the object of the conspiracy,” naming nine such acts. “Trafficking” includes “to manufacture, deliver, distribute, dispense, possess with intent to distribute, or sell.”
As far as Dawson County is concerned, the only overt acts contained in the indictment are that defendant “met” the agents there and defendant “delivered” cocaine to the agents there. That is what the state proved. Moser was convicted of conspiring to commit the offense of trafficking. OCGA § 16-13-33. The substantive offense in this case was knowingly delivering, which is trafficking, and not “selling,” which is also trafficking. OCGA § 16-13-31 (a). Although the *532substantive offense of delivering was complete, in that the cocaine was actually handed over into the possession of the agent, we cannot say that the object of the conspiracy was completed or accomplished. This is because the “sale” was not complete in that the money had not changed hands and there was no payment and thus no “sale.” The object of the conspiracy was obviously not to deliver cocaine to the purchaser for zero money.
This is one of those peculiar circumstances where the completion of the substantive offense (delivery, i.e., an aborted sale) occurs before completion of the objective of the conspiracy. There is a distinction between the conspiracy to deliver, which is a crime, and conspiracy to “sell,” which is also a more advanced version of the same crime of conspiracy. The point is that the completed substantive offense in this case was trafficking by delivering, whereas the obvious object of the conspiracy was trafficking by selling.
The same would be true for crimes of “attempt.” Where “attempt” is a substantive crime, OCGA §§ 16-13-33 and 16-4-1, the substantive crime of attempt would be complete before there was a completion of the objective of the conspiracy. Cohorts could conspire to attempt, which would be part of the overall conspiracy to accomplish. An attempted delivery of cocaine would be a substantive offense under OCGA §§ 16-13-33 and 16-13-31 (a). Although obviously the ultimate conspiracy was the agreement to sell, an interim part of that conspiracy would be the agreement to attempt to sell and “delivery” would be a stage or step in the transaction.
Here, of course, there was more than attempted delivery, there was delivery. And that is what was charged, insofar as Dawson County was concerned.
2. Aside from the above, what I understand we are saying the law now is, follows: 1) The state may charge both conspiracy and a substantive crime, but can obtain conviction of only one because conspiracy is a lesser included offense. 2) The state can charge a substantive crime, in which case the jury can be instructed on the lesser included offense of conspiracy, and the jury can convict of either. If there is a conviction of the substantive crime, whether it embraces completion of the object or not, the “conspiracy” evidence takes on the framework of the principal statute and serves that purpose instead of serving as a separate crime. 3) The state can charge the substantive crime and reduce it in plea negotiations to the lesser crime of conspiracy to commit that crime. 4) The state can charge conspiracy, prove the completion of the object or of a substantive crime which is short of completion, such as attempt, but convict only of conspiracy. 5) The state cannot charge conspiracy and convict of the substantive crime.
So conspiracy merges only where there is conviction of a substantive offense which is a criminal aspect of the conspiracy; that offense *533may not even be the ultimate object of the conspiracy but may be a preliminary crime, such as delivery without completed sale, or the substantive crime of attempt.
Decided March 7, 1986
Jeffrey R. Sliz, for appellant.
Rafe Banks III, District Attorney, Garry T. Moss, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.