[APPEALS] Cornelius Major Tate v. State of Indiana, 26A-CR-1215

A jury found Cornelius Tate guilty of Level 2 felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, and the trial court entered a judgment of conviction accordingly. Tate appeals his conviction and argues that the State failed to prove that he possessed the methamphetamine discovered after law enforcement officers searched his friend’s vehicle.

On October 1, 2024, employees of a West Lafeyette McDonalds restaurant called law enforcement to report a suspicious vehicle that had been parked in its lot for several hours. The responding officers observed an SUV with two individuals in the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle was in the driver’s seat and Tate was in the passenger seat. The backseat of the vehicle was full of personal property and there were also many items in the front seat. The driver exited the vehicle at the officer’s request, and when she did so, the officer observed what he believed to be a baggie containing methamphetamine. Therefore, the officer asked Tate to exit the vehicle as well. Tate was allowed to remove his personal property, a baseball hat, a jacket that had been in the backseat, and his cellphone. Law enforcement officers searched the vehicle and found additional methamphetamine and items associated with dealing. They also found a jacket on the passenger side floorboard and inside the jacket the officers discovered a black and purple vape pen and a Crown Royal bag that contained a box of sandwich bags and a scale. The driver was placed under arrest, and Tate was released from the scene. The officer later discovered twenty-one baggies containing methamphetamine in the bottom of the box of sandwich bags. Later forensic testing established that the weight of one of the twenty-one baggies contained over thirteen grams of methamphetamine.

The State later charged Tate with Level 3 felony possession of methamphetamine and Level 2 felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. The State also alleged he was an habitual offender. At trial, the State argued that the black jacket containing the Crown Royal bag belonged to Tate because his personal items were lying next to the black jacket on the passenger side floorboard and Tate was the closest in the vehicle to the jacket. Law enforcement officers also testified that Tate asked about retrieving his black and purple vape pen from the vehicle. Tate testified that he had used methamphetamine before the officers arrived but that the black jacket containing the Crown Royal bag belonged to the vehicle’s driver. He also admitted that he owned a purple and black vape pen but his pen was in his leather jacket that he had placed in the backseat.

The jury found Tate guilty as charged, and Tate then admitted to being an habitual offender. The trial court entered a judgment of conviction on the Level 2 felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver charge and ordered Tate to serve an aggregate thirty-year sentence, with five years suspended to probation. Tate appeals and argues that the evidence is insufficient to prove that he possessed the methamphetamine found in the Crown Royal bag.

The scheduled panelists are Judge Mathias, Judge Felix, and Judge Scheele