ODESSA D. TAYLOR, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The circuit court erred in reversing the county court's dismissal of the information because the State failed to establish a prima facie case of marijuana possession against the petitioner.
[1] Possession of a controlled substance requires proof of knowledge of the drug's presence and the ability to maintain control over it or reduce it to personal dominion.
[2] Knowledge of the presence of a controlled substance and the ability to control it cannot be inferred but must be established by proof.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePolice smelled marijuana and observed individuals smoking it in an apartment where the petitioner was present as a visitor. A small amount of marijuan…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Sufficiency Of Circumstantial Evidence cases and more on FLexlaw
HOBSON, Judge.
Petitioner, Taylor, seeks certiorari review of an order of the circuit court, acting in its appellate capacity, which reversed an order of the county court granting petitioner’s motion to dismiss the information filed against her. The county court, after hearing, concluded that the undisputed facts would not show a prima facie case of guilt, and dismissed the charge, basing its finding on Jolley v. City of Jacksonville, Fla.App.1st 1973, 281 So. 2d 901.
The facts stipulated at the hearing were that at approximately 1:15 a. m. Police Officer Gell responded to a call of a disturbance created by loud record playing at a duplex apartment. When the officer stood on the porch of the duplex he smelled marijuana coming from one of the apartments. Officer Gell looked through a window and saw three males smoking what appeared to be marijuana cigarettes, but did not see any of the females smoking marijuana cigarettes nor did he see any cigarettes being passed around. The officer saw petitioner, Odessa Taylor, sitting on a couch between a ’male and a female. Officer Gell knocked on the door and arrested everyone in the room. On the floor next to the sofa was found a plastic baggie containing a small amount of marijuana, some marijuana particles were on the cushions of the sofa, and some crushed marijuana cigarette butts were found in the room. Taylor did not own or live in the premises and did not know the names of the owners. Someone had told her there was a party going on and she had arrived about twenty minutes prior to the arrest. Taylor does not smoke marijuana, was offered a marijuana cigarette at the party which she refused, and the only thing she had was some beer. Taylor was charged with possession of less than five grams of marijuana. Charges were later dropped by the State against the two persons who sat on the sofa on either side of Taylor. We are not concerned with whether the county court was correct in relying on Jolley, supra. On this petition for writ of certiorari our review is limited to the face of the record to determine whether the circuit court has exceeded its jurisdiction, failed to follow the essential requirements of the law, or applied the wrong rule of law to admitted facts. Mathews v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Fla. 1956, 89 So. 2d 641; State v. Staley, Fla.App.2d 1957, 97 So. 2d 147; Zediker v. State, Fla.App.3d 1969, 218 So. 2d 464; Mangone v. State, Fla.App.3d 1969, 219 So. 2d 447; Coffman v. State, Fla.App.4th 1974, 292 So. 2d 608.
Even where drugs are found on premises in joint possession, the proof must establish both the accused’s knowledge of the presence of the drug and his ability to maintain control over it or reduce it to his personal dominion. Spataro v. State, Fla.App.2d 1965, 179 So. 2d 873. This will not be inferred but must be established by proof. Frank v. State, Fla.App.1st 1967, 199 So. 2d 117; Markman v. State, Fla.App.3d 1968, 210 So. 2d 486; Harris v. State, Fla.App.3d 1974, 307 So. 2d 218.
The only evidence in the case sub judice with which the State could prove that Taylor could maintain control over the marijuana or had the ability to reduce it to her personal dominion was her proximity to it. This is circumstantial evidence. In order for circumstantial evidence to be sufficient for conviction it must be consistent with the accused’s guilt, inconsistent with innocence and must exclude every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt. Harris, supra.
The evidence in this case is not only subject to the hypothesis of Taylor’s guilt but is also subject to the equally reasonable hypothesis of her innocence in that the marijuana was in the possession of the owner of the apartment or one of the other occupants. Langdon v. State, Fla.App.3d 1970, 235 So. 2d 321.
Taylor did not have control or joint control of the premises, but was a mere visitor with no apparent authority to treat the drugs as her own. Arant v. State, Fla.App.1st 1972, 256 So. 2d 515; D. M. M. v. State, Fla.App.2d 1973, 275 So. 2d 308.
Constructive possession may be inferred from other incriminating statements or circumstances. Frank, supra; Markman, supra. In the case sub judice the State did not present any other incriminating circumstances from which possession could be inferred.
The trial judge was correct in holding that the State failed to make out a prima facie case of guilt under the statute involved. In reversing the county judge’s order, the circuit court applied the wrong rule of law to admitted facts. Mathews, supra; Staley, supra; Zediker, supra; and Mangone, supra.
The writ of certiorari is hereby granted, the order of the circuit court is quashed, and the cause remanded to the circuit court with directions to affirm the order of the county court.
McNULTY, C. J., and BOARDMAN, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (35 total)
-
Brown v. State, 428 So. 2d 250 (Fla. 1983)…answer the second question in the affirmative. This answer is consistent with prior cases such as Smith v. State, 279 So. 2d 27 (Fla.1973) (contraband in jointly occupied dresser drawer, not in plain view, knowledge not shown), and Taylor v. State, 319 So. 2d 114 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975) (contraband found in plain view, but defendant, a guest, had no control over the premises). We hold, therefore, that joint occupancy, with or without ownership of the premises, where contraband is discovered in plain view in the…
-
Herrera v. State, 532 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…here defendant is a mere visitor rather than an occupant. See Agee v. State, 522 So. 2d 1044 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Brooks v. State, 501 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); Green v. State, 460 So. 2d 986 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); [*59] Johnson; Taylor v. State, 319 So. 2d 114 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975). Here, the evidence established the elements of appellant’s constructive possession: he promised to return the officer’s money if he was dissatisfied with the purchase, requested a sample of the cocaine, and stood next to the kilo…
-
Westley Johnson v. State, 456 So. 2d 923 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)…it drugs in plain view. Compare Brown (ownership and/or joint occupancy of premises is sufficient to support a conviction for constructive possession as to each person where drugs are discovered in plain view in their presence) with Taylor v. State, 319 So. 2d 114 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975) (defendant’s proximity to marijuana in plain view was merely circumstantial evidence insufficient to support conviction for constructive possession where defendant did not own or live on the premises and did not have control or jo…
Previewing 3 of 35 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (14 total)
- Frank v. State, 199 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 1st DCA 1967)
- Spataro v. State, 179 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965)
- Arant v. State, 256 So. 2d 515 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972)
- Ira Dennis Markman v. State, 210 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968)
- Harris v. State, 307 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
- Langdon v. State, 235 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970)
- Mathews v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 89 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 1956)
- D. M. M. v. State, 275 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973)
- State v. Staley, 97 So. 2d 147 (Fla. 2d DCA 1957)
- Coffman v. State, 292 So. 2d 608 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)