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COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Present: Judges Frank, McClanahan and Petty Argued at Richmond, Virginia

MARCUS DARIUS FORD v. Record No. 1047-08-2 OPINION BY JUDGE ELIZABETH A. McCLANAHAN JANUARY 26, 2010

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF CHESTERFIELD COUNTY Timothy J. Hauler, Judge David Paul Morgan (The Law Firm of David Paul Morgan, on brief), for appellant. Jennifer C. Williamson, Assistant Attorney General (William C. Mims, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Marcus Darius Ford appeals his convictions in a jury trial for transporting more than five pounds of marijuana into the Commonwealth with intent to distribute and possession of more than five pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute. He argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence found in his home pursuant to execution of an anticipatory search warrant and in denying his motion to strike and motion to set aside the verdict with regard to the transporting charge. We find no error in the trial court's rulings and affirm its judgment. I. BACKGROUND On appeal, we review the evidence in the "light most favorable" to the Commonwealth. Commonwealth v. Hudson, 265 Va. 505, 514, 578 S.E.2d 781, 786 (2003) (citation omitted). That principle requires us to "`discard the evidence of the accused in conflict with that of the Commonwealth, and regard as true all the credible evidence favorable to the Commonwealth and all fair inferences that may be drawn therefrom.'" Kelly v. Commonwealth, 41 Va. App. 250,

254, 584 S.E.2d 444, 446 (2003) (en banc) (quoting Watkins v. Commonwealth, 26 Va. App. 335, 348, 494 S.E.2d 859, 866 (1998)). See also Bolden v. Commonwealth, 275 Va. 144, 147-48, 654 S.E.2d 584, 586 (2008); Molina v. Commonwealth, 272 Va. 666, 671, 636 S.E.2d 470, 473 (2006); Viney v. Commonwealth, 269 Va. 296, 299, 609 S.E.2d 26, 28 (2005); Walton v. Commonwealth, 255 Va. 422, 425-26, 497 S.E.2d 869, 871 (1998). Special Agent Mason G. Edwards, with the Virginia State Police, responded to a United Parcel Service (UPS) Distribution Center regarding a suspicious package shipped from a packaging store in California and addressed to a "Shanese Williams" at Ford's home address. 1 Edwards used a probe in the bottom corner of the box to test the contents of the package and determined it contained marijuana. Special Agent Edwards delivered the package to the Chesterfield County police who opened the box pursuant to a search warrant. 2 They took out an internal package of marijuana, weighed it,3 re-packaged it, and obtained an anticipatory warrant to search Ford's home that they placed in the package. The warrant stated: The search warrant will only be executed on the residence if the following occurs. A Chesterfield County Police detective will make a controlled delivery of a brown U.S. Postal Service box or USPS box with a tracking number. The package will be accepted by an individual at the address and taken into their [sic] custody. If any of these events do not occur, a search warrant will not be

The Commonwealth alleged Ford was a drug courier who was to receive a package of drugs at his home and hold it until the drug organization deemed it safe to retrieve the drugs from him. There is no information about whether "Shanese Williams" was a real person. It was not the name of Ford's fianc

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