Suspicion of Drugs Because of A Throwing Motion

In Collins v. Commonwealth, 13 Va. App. 177, 178, 409 S.E.2d 175, 175 (1991), the police observed the defendant make a throwing motion as he left his vehicle. No one saw whether he had actually thrown anything. See id. at 179, 409 S.E.2d at 176. Underneath the car in which the defendant had been sitting, the officers found a bag of cocaine. See id. at 178, 409 S.E.2d at 175. Despite varied proffered theories of innocence, including one like appellant's argument, this Court upheld the conviction, stating that the trial court's finding of possession was: binding on us, unless it is incredible or plainly wrong . . . . The trial court was not unmindful of Collins' argument that the cocaine might have already been under his car. The judge discounted this possibility, observing that the cocaine was "something of significant value and not something that one is likely to have abandoned or carelessly left in the area there." Collins, 13 Va. App. at 179-80, 409 S.E.2d at 176.