Conerly

On appeal from a conviction for selling cocaine, appellant Rodney Jerome Conerly contends the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to sever his trial from that of his codefendant. He also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. We reject these challenges to the conviction but shall modify the judgment to strike certain sentence enhancements the trial court stayed following their imposition.

Factual and Procedural Background

During the evening of February 2, 2007, a team of Oakland police officers was conducting a series of narcotic “buy-bust” operations in which certain officers would arrest drug dealers after undercover officers bought narcotics on the street. Two of the undercover officers, Francisco Martinez and Eric Barangan, were working together in the same car.

As Officer Martinez was driving in an area known for drug dealing, he saw four men standing in front of a liquor store. Officer Barangan had seen only two men in the vicinity of the liquor store, although he acknowledged it was possible there were additional people going in and out of the store during the buy-bust operation. Officer Martinez made eye…