United States v. Philip D. Jones

WOOD, Circuit Judge.

Like many people who wind up as defendants in criminal cases, Philip D. Jones’s problems began when the police stopped his car for a traffic violation. He was arrested after police discovered that he or his passenger had tossed two bags from his car that turned out to contain a substantial amount of cocaine. Jones was charged and convicted of possession of more than 500 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute. At the trial, Jones had unsuccessfully sought to exclude evidence of two prior convictions. The correctness of this ruling is the only remaining issue we must…