Following a jury trial, Nathan Wade was convicted of a single count each of possession of cocaine,1 possession of marijuana,2 and two counts of possession of drug-related objects.3 He now appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for possession of cocaine. Discerning no error, we affirm. In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a criminal conviction, we view the record in the light most favorable to the verdict, and without affording the defendant a presumption of innocence. We determine only whether the evidence authorized the jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and in doing so we neither weigh that evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses. Citation omitted. Culver v. State .4 So viewed, the record shows that on October 1, 2002, a narcotics detective with the Douglasville Police Department made a traffic stop of a car driven by Wade. Wade exited the vehicle and spoke with the officer, telling him that he and his passenger, who was Wade’s nephew, were returning to their homes in Alabama after visiting Wade’s sister in Atlanta. In response to the officer’s request, Wade produced a driver’s license and stated that his automobile registration was in the car’s glove compartment. With Wade’s permission, the officer returned to the car to retrieve the registration. When Wade’s nephew opened the car door, the officer detected the scent of burnt marijuana coming from the car’s ashtray and from the nephew’s person. After retrieving the car’s registration, therefore, the officer questioned Wade about whether he had any marijuana in the car. Wade stated that he did not have any drugs, and the officer asked for and received Wade’s permission to search the car. That search revealed a brown paper bag, located between the driver and front-passenger seats, which contained two packages of small, clear plastic bags, commonly used for packaging narcotics for resale. This discovery led the officer to ask Wade if his nephew had come to Atlanta to purchase crack cocaine. When Wade responded affirmatively, the officer went back to the nephew, told him what Wade had said, and asked him to give the officer the drugs. The nephew, who was blind, then allowed the officer to search him, and the officer removed 6 bags of marijuana and 14 pieces of individually-packaged crack cocaine from the nephew’s pockets. Police thereafter arrested both Wade and his nephew.
While transporting the men to jail, the officer explained to them that entering jail in possession of contraband was a felony, and they should tell him if they had any additional contraband on their persons. Wade then admitted to having a bag of marijuana in his pocket, and his nephew admitted to having a scale, used to weigh drugs, in his sock.
