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Laws-info.com » Cases » Iowa » Court of Appeals » 2011 » STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ROBERT JACKSON WHITE, Defendant-Appellant.
STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ROBERT JACKSON WHITE, Defendant-Appellant.
State: Iowa
Court: Court of Appeals
Docket No: No. 0-730 / 09-1463
Case Date: 01/20/2011
Preview:IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 0-730 / 09-1463 Filed January 20, 2011 STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ROBERT JACKSON WHITE, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Douglas F. Staskal (motion to suppress) and Robert A. Hutchinson (trial and sentencing), Judges.

White appeals from the judgment and sentence entered following his convictions of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, and failure to possess a tax stamp. AFFIRMED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Bradley Bender, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Bridget Chambers, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Steven Bayens and Mark Taylor, Assistant County Attorneys, for appellee.

Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Eisenhauer and Danilson, JJ. Tabor, J., takes no part.

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EISENHAUER, J. Robert Jackson White appeals from the judgment and sentence entered following his convictions of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, and failure to possess a tax stamp. He contends the court erred in denying his motion to suppress, in overruling portions of his motion in limine, and in instructing the jury. He also contends the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions. We affirm. I. Background Facts and Proceedings. On August 14, 2008, White was arrested at a bus terminal in Des Moines after Samuel Herrera deposited a duffel bag containing marijuana in the minivan White was driving. Law enforcement officers had discovered twenty-five pounds of marijuana in Herreras bag during a stop in Omaha, Nebraska, and learned Herrera was transporting it to a man named "Rob" in Des Moines. Herrera revealed he had delivered marijuana to Rob three weeks earlier and described Rob as "a black male . . . who was approximately 510" tall, stocky build, and was in his early 30s." Herrera had Robs phone number saved in his cellular phone under the name "Rob I," an abbreviation for "Rob Iowa." Herrera later identified White as the man he knew as "Rob." Herrera was to meet White in the parking lot of the bus station when he arrived in Des Moines. Herrera consented to cooperate with law enforcement by completing the delivery of the marijuana. Upon disembarking the bus, Herrera was unable to locate the Chevy Silverado White drove at the last exchange. White then called Herrera to tell him he was in a minivan. After locating Whites

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vehicle, Herrera walked to the east side of the parking lot and the minivan pulled up. Herrera placed the duffel bag in the back of the vehicle and then excused himself to find a restroom as he had been instructed by law enforcement officers. White was arrested. A search of the minivan yielded Herreras duffle bag containing marijuana on the floor behind the passengers seat, documents bearing Whites name, and $300 in cash. While searching Whites house, officers discovered $26,670 in a safe, $880 in a jewelry box, and a currency counter. Herreras phone number was saved in Whites cellular phone contacts under the name "Sam." The State charged White with conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, and failure to possess a drug tax stamp. White claimed he knew Herrera through mutual acquaintances and had met Herrera in El Paso, Texas, where Herrera lived. White told officers he was the only person Herrera knew in Des Moines and had picked him up at the bus terminal once before. At trial, Benjamin Rios of El Paso, Texas testified he knew both White and Herrera and had introduced them prior to August 2008. Rios testified White was in El Paso frequently and he had seen Herrera and White together on at least one occasion. Herrera testified at trial about a similar

delivery of marijuana to White in Des Moines a few weeks before Whites August 2008 arrest. Following a jury trial, White was convicted on all three counts. He

stipulated he was a habitual offender. At sentencing, the district court merged

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his convictions for conspiracy to deliver and possession of a controlled substance and sentenced White to an indeterminate forty-five year prison term. He was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment on the drug tax stamp violation, to be served concurrently. II. Motion to Suppress. White first contends the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the search of his vehicle and his home. He contends the search warrant was defective and lacked probable cause to justify its issuance because it contained false information. White argues without the false information there is not probable cause to issue the warrant. The Fourth Amendment requires a search warrant to be supported by probable cause. U.S. Const. amends. IV, XIV,
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