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Pressley v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
Jul 1, 1998
712 So. 2d 1240 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)

Summary

reversing conviction for possession of cocaine and marijuana where state failed to establish defendant's knowledge of the presence of the illegal drugs

Summary of this case from Daniels v. State

Opinion

No. 97-1991

Opinion filed July 1, 1998 JANUARY TERM 1998

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Indian River County; Robert A. Hawley, Judge; L.T. Case No. 96-1278 CF.

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Tatjana Ostapoff, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Denise M. Mitchell, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.


We reverse Defendant's conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana. Denial of Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal was error, as the state failed to prove that Defendant had knowledge of the presence of contraband found in a car which Defendant jointly possessed. Although the car was his sister's, Defendant, the driver, was the primary user. There were two passengers in the car with Defendant at the time of the arrest. If an area is only in a defendant's joint possession, his knowledge of the presence of contraband and his ability to maintain control over it will not be inferred but must be established by other proof. See Brown v. State, 412 So.2d 420 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), approved, 428 So.2d 250 (Fla. 1983).

The investigating officer approached Defendant's car at night and noticed the smell of marijuana. He shined a flashlight into the car and illuminated a particle of rock cocaine measuring only 1/16th of an inch, and weighing only .05 grams. It was located in a seam on the driver's side of the front bench seat of the car, where the back and the seat meet. Small amounts of marijuana residue and seeds were also found on the floor of the car. Food particles were scattered throughout the car, including remnants from a hamburger, french fries, potato chips, peanut shells, and various crumbs. When the light focused on the area where the cocaine was found, Defendant indicated that he thought the substance was part of a potato chip. However, we do not deem this comment as indicative of guilty knowledge given this setting.

We find that the state failed to sufficiently establish Defendant's knowledge of the presence of the illegal drugs. This and other courts have refused to find constructive possession where there were even more incriminating factors than those in the instant case. See In re E.H., 579 So.2d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (rock cocaine found between the driver's seat where defendant was seated and center hump); Williams v. State, 573 So.2d 124 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (defendant was found sitting in chair where two cocaine rocks were located between seat cushion and armrest and another on ground under chair); McClain v. State, 559 So.2d 425 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Hively v. State, 336 So.2d 127 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976) (bag containing marijuana found in close proximity to defendant; pipe on console between automobile's bucket seats; two "roaches" and a roach clip in the ashtray; and the odor of marijuana); D.J. v. State, 330 So.2d 35 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976) (odor of burning marijuana, half burned marijuana cigarette on the floor next to defendant and on the floor by the driver's seat, marijuana cigarette found in ashtray and in glove compartment, and numerous marijuana seeds in seats); Metzger v. State, 395 So.2d 1259 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (almost a handful of marijuana scattered over the deck where defendant was located).

We recognize that there are circumstances in which the amount or location of contraband on or about a seat is sufficient evidence of guilty knowledge. See Thomas v. State, 512 So.2d 1099 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987) (conviction for possession of cocaine supported by bits of crack cocaine found in seat of car recently vacated by defendant due to position and manner in which cocaine was arranged; had defendant been unaware of them, they most likely would have been brushed aside when defendant got into and out of the seat). However, such is not the case in this instance.

GROSS and TAYLOR, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Pressley v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
Jul 1, 1998
712 So. 2d 1240 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)

reversing conviction for possession of cocaine and marijuana where state failed to establish defendant's knowledge of the presence of the illegal drugs

Summary of this case from Daniels v. State

reversing conviction of possession of cocaine and marijuana where state did not establish Pressley's knowledge of the presence of the illegal drugs

Summary of this case from Thomas v. State

discussing that state failed to establish defendant's knowledge of illegal drugs where small particle of crack cocaine and marijuana residue were found in car

Summary of this case from J.M. v. State
Case details for

Pressley v. State

Case Details

Full title:ROBERT PRESSLEY, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: Jul 1, 1998

Citations

712 So. 2d 1240 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)

Citing Cases

Thomas v. State

As such, we hold reversal is required. See Pressley v. State, 712 So.2d 1240, 1240-41 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)…

J.M. v. State

This alone failed to establish that appellant knew about the presence of the contraband or of its illicit…