Visser v. State, 516 S.E.2d 840 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). · Go Syfert
Visser v. State, 516 S.E.2d 840 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
17 citation events (9 in the last 25 years) across 1 distinct court.
Strongest positive: Giacini v. State (gactapp, 2006-09-01)
Top citers, strongest first. 6 distinct citers.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Giacini v. State
Ga. Ct. App. · 2006 · confidence medium
See also State v. Ayers, 257 Ga. App. 117, 119 ( 570 SE2d 603 ) (2002) (Wrigley distinguished where evidence showed that primary purpose of roadblock was “general law enforcement”). 14 McCray, supra. 15 266 Ga. 700 ( 469 SE2d 660 ) (1996). 16 (Citations and footnote omitted.) Id. at 701. 17 Id. 18 See Turner v. State, 241 Ga. App. 431, 433-434 (2) (b) ( 526 SE2d 95 ) (1999) (physical precedent only) {Cantrell distinguished where the jury’s note merely indicated agreement as to the lesser offense, without specifying verdict of guilty or not guilty). 19 (Citations and punctuation omitted.)…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Arnold v. State
Ga. Ct. App. · 2003 · confidence medium
The court merged Arnold’s “driving with drugs present in his urine” conviction into his DUI conviction, and reduced Arnold’s criminal damage to property conviction to criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, for sentencing purposes. 2 Hudson v. State, 246 Ga. App. 335 (1) ( 539 SE2d 860 ) (2000). 3 Visser v. State, 237 Ga. App. 798, 799 ( 516 SE2d 840 ) (1999). 4 Jackson v. State, 252 Ga. App. 157, 159 ( 555 SE2d 835 ) (2001). 5 Ellis v. State, 257 Ga. App. 409, 411 ( 571 SE2d 198 ) (2002). 6 Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319-320 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Townsend v. State
Ga. Ct. App. · 2002 · confidence medium
Edwards, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee. 1 See Battle v. State, 244 Ga. App. 599, 601 (1) ( 536 SE2d 273 ) (2000); Visser v. State, 237 Ga. App. 798, 800 (2) ( 516 SE2d 840 ) (1999). 2 Bodiford v. State, 246 Ga. App. 879, 880 (1) ( 542 SE2d 628 ) (2000); Battle, supra. 3 Id. 4 Id. 5 See Davis v. State, 194 Ga. App. 482, 486 (4) ( 391 SE2d 124 ) (1990); Moon v. State, 194 Ga. App. 777, 778-779 (2) ( 392 SE2d 19 ) (1990). 6 See Visser, supra; Knox v. State, 216 Ga. App. 90, 92 (3) ( 453 SE2d 120 ) (1995).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Bodiford v. State
Ga. Ct. App. · 2000 · confidence medium
Blackburn, P. J., and Barnes, J., concur. 1 (Citation omitted.) Visser v. State, 237 Ga. App. 798, 799-800 ( 516 SE2d 840 ) (1999). 2 Burse v. State, 232 Ga. App. 729, 730 (1) ( 503 SE2d 638 ) (1998). 3 Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Tran v. State
Ga. Ct. App. · 2000 · confidence medium
Tran has cited no authority, and we have found none, for the proposition that an officer must immediately reveal his true motives to a suspect in a criminal investigation. 7 York v. State, 242 Ga. App. 281, 293 (7) ( 528 SE2d 823 ) (2000). 8 (Footnotes omitted.) Dollar v. State, 242 Ga. App. 511, 513 (1) (a) ( 529 SE2d 665 ) (2000). 9 See Starks v. State, 240 Ga. App. 346, 347-348 (1) ( 523 SE2d 397 ) (1999) (affidavit was sufficient because it contained information that corroborated informant’s tip, as well as other information). 10 (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Dean v. State, 211 Ga…
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Bagley v. State (2×)
Ga. Ct. App. · 2009 · signal: see also · confidence medium
See also Visser v. State, 237 Ga. App. 798, 799 ( 516 SE2d 840 ) (1999) (failure to argue or provide legal citation in appellate brief abandons asserted error).
Visser
v.
the State
A99A0584.
Court of Appeals of Georgia.
Apr 28, 1999.
516 S.E.2d 840
William C. Davison, for appellant., Michael H. Crawford, District Attorney, Robert D. Cullifer, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
Barnes, Blackburn, Banke.
Cited by 8 opinions  |  Published
Barnes, Judge.

Terry Visser appeals his convictions for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, driving under the influence, driving with a prohibited substance, and possession of less than one ounce of mari[*799] juana. He contends the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions.

1. Although Visser contends the evidence presented is insufficient to sustain his convictions, his argument focuses solely on his conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. As Visser did not present argument on his other convictions, any issue concerning the sufficiency of the evidence to support those convictions is abandoned. Court of Appeals Rule 27 (c) (2); Bicknell v. Joyce Sportswear Co., 173 Ga. App. 897, 898 (3) (328 SE2d 564) (1985); Sepulvado v. Daniels Lincoln-Mercury, 170 Ga. App. 109 (1) (316 SE2d 554) (1984).

2. On appeal, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict. Further, Visser no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence, and the appellate court determines the sufficiency of the evidence and neither weighs the evidence nor judges the credibility of the witnesses. Grant v. State, 195 Ga. App. 463, 464 (1) (393 SE2d 737) (1990).

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that after receiving information Visser would be driving one of his cars to go purchase a quantity of marijuana, an officer saw Visser drive off. That night officers saw Visser returning to the county and, after following Visser’s vehicle, saw him driving erratically and pulled him over.

Initially, the officers detected a strong odor of flowers or deodorant in the car, but when the air cleared one of the officers smelled what he believed to be burnt marijuana. Upon further investigation, including the use of a drug dog, a cola box containing over a pound of marijuana was found on the floor behind the front passenger bucket seat. This marijuana was the basis for the possession with intent to distribute charge.

Visser’s defense to this charge was that the marijuana did not belong to him. He claimed he did not know the marijuana was in his car and that a former girlfriend also had access to the car. Therefore, he asserted that under the equal access rule he was entitled to an acquittal.

In this context, the equal access rule is merely that when there is evidence that someone other than the driver of the automobile had equal access to the contraband, the presumption that contraband found in an automobile is in the exclusive possession of the driver may be overcome. Lombardo v. State, 187 Ga. App. 440, 442 (5) (370 SE2d 503) (1988). The equal access defense, however, requires affirmative evidence that someone other than the defendant had an equal opportunity to commit the crime, and mere speculation that another may have had equal access to the automobile is not sufficient. Cochran v. State, 190 Ga. App. 884 (1) (380 SE2d 319) (1989).[*800] Further, this presumption applies particularly when, as in this case, the driver is also the owner of the automobile. Williams v. State, 129 Ga. App. 103, 106 (1) (198 SE2d 683) (1973). In any event, whether the equal access evidence is sufficient to rebut the inference of possession is a question for the jury. Cannon v. State, 211 Ga. App. 835, 836 (440 SE2d 723) (1994).

Decided April 28,1999. William C. Davison, for appellant. Michael H. Crawford, District Attorney, Robert D. Cullifer, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.

In this appeal, Visser was alone in his automobile when arrested, and the box containing the marijuana was in plain view on the floor behind the bucket seat right next to where Visser was sitting. The evidence that someone else might have put the marijuana in the car was mere conjecture.

Consequently, review of all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict reveals ample evidence from which any rational trier of fact could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Visser was guilty of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

Judgment affirmed.

Blackburn, P. J., and Senior Appellate Judge Harold R. Banke concur.