State of Tennessee v. Ray Armstrong

A Shelby County Criminal Court Jury convicted the Appellant, Ray Armstrong, of four counts of possessing one-half gram or more of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver within a drug-free school zone, one count of destroying evidence, and one count of resisting arrest. The trial court merged the convictions of possessing cocaine, and the Appellant received an effective sentence of fifty and one-half years in confinement. On appeal, he contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions, that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence, that the trial court erred by allowing a witness to give testimony that was hearsay and violated Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b), that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on criminal attempt as a lesser-included offense of destroying evidence, that the State improperly mentioned a missing witness during closing argument, and that his four convictions and sentences for possessing cocaine violate double jeopardy. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.