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Deron Johnsonv.The State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A15A1665
DecidedFebruary 24, 2016
Reporter335 Ga. App. 796; 783 S.E.2d 156
JudgesThird Division; Presiding Judge Ellington and Judges Dillard and Rickman; Dillard authored
Tags
CriminalCriminal ProcedureSufficiency of the EvidenceSentencingStatutory InterpretationVacaturRemand
Case Summary

After a bench trial, Deron Johnson was convicted of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, cocaine, and less than one ounce of marijuana. He challenged the cocaine conviction as unsupported by the evidence. The Court of Appeals held that the circumstantial evidence supported the finding that he possessed the cocaine: officers found it beside marijuana in a hidden location next to where Johnson had been sitting, and witnesses had seen him handle a bag that appeared to contain marijuana. The court held that OCGA § 17-10-7(b.1) barred sentencing him under subsection (c) for cocaine possession because one prior conviction used in aggravation was also for simple possession of cocaine; it concluded that his firearm conviction could be sentenced under subsection (c) based on his prior felonies. Because the record showed only that the sentence was imposed under subsection (c), without identifying how it applied to each count, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing. It affirmed all three convictions.

Opinion

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