WILLIE ISAAC, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Willie Isaac was convicted of cocaine possession based on circumstantial evidence that he was standing near another man when a baggie of crack cocaine was dropped. The court reversed, finding the evidence insufficient because the state failed to exclude reasonable hypotheses of innocence regarding constructive possession.
The conviction is reversed because the state failed to prove constructive possession beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence did not exclude reasonable hypotheses of innocence, such as that the men found the baggie and were examining it, or that the other man brought it and was showing it to Isaac.
[1] Possession of contraband requires proof of knowledge of its presence and the ability to maintain control over it.
[2] Where premises are not in the exclusive possession of a defendant, the State must prove knowledge of contraband's presence and ability to control it by affirmative eviden…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Mere proximity to contraband is not enough to establish dominion and control.”
Establishes the legal standard that proximity alone cannot support a conviction for constructive possession.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePolice officers observed Isaac and another man standing close together passing an object between them. When the officers were noticed, one man dropped…
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NORTHCUTT, Judge.
Willie Isaac challenges his conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine. We agree with his argument that the evidence of his guilt was insufficient. Clearwater Police Department Officers Donnelly and Stonelake were responding to another call when they happened upon Isaac and another man, standing no more than a foot apart, passing an object between them. From the officers’ vantage point, they could not discern the nature of the object. When the men noticed that they were being observed, one of them dropped a plastic baggie to the ground, and the two began walking away. The officers did not see which man dropped the baggie. Based on his experience, Officer Stonelake identified the substance in the baggie as crack cocaine. He remained to secure the contraband while Officer Donnelly gave chase and apprehended Isaac. A search incident to arrest revealed no money or other contraband on Isaac’s person.
At trial, the State proved the foregoing facts. Isaac’s attorney moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that the State had not shown that Isaac constructively possessed the cocaine. The trial court denied the motion, and thereafter the jury found Isaac guilty of possession of cocaine.
Because the State could not establish that Isaac had actual possession of the baggie, it was obliged to prove that he possessed it constructively. See Lewis v. State, 570 So. 2d 346, 348 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). To do so, the State was required to show that Isaac had dominion and control over the cocaine, was aware of its presence, and knew of its illicit nature. See Green v. State, 667 So. 2d 208, 211 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); see also E.A.M. v. State, 684 So. 2d 283, 284 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996).
Mere proximity to contraband is not enough to establish dominion and control. See State v. Snyder, 635 So. 2d 1057, 1058 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). Rather, to prove dominion and control the evidence must establish the defendant’s conscious and substantial possession, as distinguished from mere involuntary or superficial possession, of the contraband. See Chicone v. State, 684 So. 2d 736, 738 (Fla.1996).
Whether a defendant had dominion and control over contraband is generally a fact issue for the jury, but a judgment of acquittal is proper when there is no evidence from which dominion and control can be inferred. See Campbell v. State, 577 So. 2d 932, 935 (Fla. 1991). In State v. Law, 559 So. 2d 187 (Fla.1989), the supreme court described the trial court’s task when considering a motion for judgment of acquittal in a circumstantial evidence case:
[I]t is for the court to determine, as a threshold matter, whether the state has been able to produce competent, substantial evidence to contradict the defendant’s story. If the state fails in this initial burden, then it is the court’s duty to grant a judgment of acquittal to the defendant as to the charged offense.... Otherwise, there would be no function or role for the courts in reviewing circumstantial evidence, as was stated so well in Davis v. State, 436 So. 2d [196 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)], 200: “If we were to follow the state’s logic, a trial judge could never ... grant a motion for judgment of acquittal pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.380 when the evidence [is] circumstantial. Instead, every case would have to go to the jury.”
559 So. 2d at 189 (quoting Fowler v. State, 492 So. 2d 1344, 1347 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)). “Where the only proof of guilt is circumstantial, no matter how strongly the evidence may suggest guilt, a conviction cannot be sustained unless the evidence is inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence.” 559 So. 2d at 188.
Here, the State did not meet its burden of excluding every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. To be sure, the circumstances suggested that one or both men possessed the cocaine. At the same time, however, those circumstances did not exclude the reasonable hypotheses that the men found the baggie at that spot and were simply examining it when the policemen happened by, or that the other fellow brought the cocaine there and was showing it to Isaac. Therefore, we reverse Isaac’s conviction and direct the circuit court to discharge him.
PATTERSON, A.C.J., and SALCINES, J., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (21 total)
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Davis v. State, 761 So. 2d 1154 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)…iction may not stand. See McArthur v. State, 351 So. 2d 972, 976 n. 12 (Fla.1977); Mayo v. State, 71 So. 2d 899 (Fla.1954). The failure of circumstantial evidence to prove actual possession was recently demonstrated by this court in Isaac v. State, 730 So. 2d 757 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999).2 There the defendant and another man were standing no more than a foot apart as they were observed by police officers. The two were passing an object between them that [*1158] proved to be a bag of crack cocaine. One of the men d…
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Bennett v. State, 46 So. 3d 1181 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…ial possession by the accused, as distinguished from a mere involuntary or superficial possession.’ ” Jackson, 995 So. 2d at 539 (quoting Reynolds v. State, 92 Fla. 1038, 111 So. 285, 286). Mere proximity to contraband is not enough. Isaac v. State, 730 So. 2d 757, 758 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). Therefore, the fact that contraband was in the defendant’s plain view does not support an inference that the defendant had control over it unless the defendant had control over the premises. Sundín, 27 So. 3d at 676-77 (reje…
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Woods v. State, 765 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)…minion and control over the contraband, (2) that the defendant knew that the contraband was in his presence, and (3) that the defendant knew of the illicit nature of the contraband. See Brown v. State, 428 So. 2d 250, 252 (Fla.1983); Isaac v. State, 730 So. 2d 757, 758 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999); S.B. v. State, 657 So. 2d 1252, 1253 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). If the location where the contraband is found is in the possession of two or more individuals jointly, knowledge of the contraband’s presence will not be inferred but…
Previewing 3 of 21 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Ronnie S. LAW, 559 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 1989)
- Chicone v. State, 684 So. 2d 736 (Fla. 1996)
- Fowler v. State, 492 So. 2d 1344 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
- Campbell v. State, 577 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 1991)
- E.A.M. v. State, 684 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
- Lewis v. State, 570 So. 2d 346 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- Alton Hill v. State, 667 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)
- Green v. State, 667 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)
- State v. Snyder, 635 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)