A three-judge state Superior Court panel has upheld the conviction and state prison sentence of a Berks County man who possessed 13 packets of cocaine in March 2007 in Pottsville.
In an eight-page opinion filed Friday in Pottsville, the panel ruled that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to support the conviction of Angel L. Gomez, 38, of Reading.
"The Commonwealth proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Gomez not only had possession of cocaine ... but that he intended to distribute it," Judge Anne E. Lazarus wrote in the opinion.
As a result, not only does Gomez's conviction stand, but also his prison sentence of 27 to 120 months in a state correctional institution, which Judge John E. Domalakes imposed on July 17, 2008. Gomez currently is on parole.
After a two-day trial presided over by Domalakes, a jury of seven men and five women deliberated a little more than an hour before convicting Gomez on June 5, 2008, of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.
Pottsville police had charged Gomez with possessing 13 packets of cocaine, containing a total of 2.4 grams of the drug, on March 13, 2007, in a Second Street residence in the city. Police said they found the packets in a closet in a room occupied by only Gomez.
Lazarus wrote that the fact that Gomez did not have the drugs on his person does not affect the sufficiency of the evidence against him.
"Under Pennsylvania law, a person need not have actual possession of a controlled substance to be convicted of possession or possession with intent to deliver," she wrote. "Rather, the Commonwealth need only prove constructive possession, or 'the power to control the contraband and the intent to exercise that control,' under the totality of the circumstances."
Prosecutors proved that, according to Lazarus.
Furthermore, the jury found prosecution witnesses, and not Gomez, credible, and the appellate court will not overturn that determination, according to Lazarus.
"It was the function of the jury, as the finder of fact, to evaluate the testimony of the witnesses and determine the weight that evidence should be given," Lazarus wrote.
Of the other panel members, Judge David N. Wecht agreed with Lazarus' opinion, while President Judge Correale F. Stevens concurred in the result but not the opinion. Defendant: Angel L. Gomez
Age: 38
Residence: Reading
Crimes committed: Possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance
Prison sentence: 27 to 120 months in a state correctional institution