Case Name: John T. FRAZIER, Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee
Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2000-08-01
Citations: 770 So. 2d 986
Docket Number: No. 1998-KA-01590-COA
Parties: John T. FRAZIER, Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
Judges: BEFORE McMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES, AND PAYNE, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 770
Pages: 986–994

Head Matter:
John T. FRAZIER, Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
No. 1998-KA-01590-COA.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
Aug. 1, 2000.
Rehearing Denied Oct. 31, 2000.
Joseph C. Langston, Christi R. McCoy., Booneville, Attorneys for Appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, Attorney for Appellee.
BEFORE McMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES, AND PAYNE, JJ.

Opinion:
BRIDGES, J.,
for the Court:
¶ 1. John T. Frazier was convicted in the Circuit Court of Union County for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He was sentenced to serve a term of twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved, Frazier has perfected an appeal to this Court on the following issue
I. APPELLANT'S CONVICTION WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.
After reviewing the record, we find that the evidence presented was insufficient to show constructive possession. Accordingly, we reverse and render.
FACTS
¶ 2. In February 1997, Frazier and his girlfriend, Angie Sutton, were stopped for questioning in a parking lot in Union County, Mississippi. Frazier was driving a tractor trailer truck owned by Thorton Farms. Several officers asked to search the truck, and Frazier first asked if the officers had a warrant and if he could call his boss to get the boss's permission for the search. Frazier later consented after telling the officers that he was only the driver of the truck not the owner. While conducting the search, the officers opened an unlocked tool box that was attached to the outside of the truck on the passenger side below a high step up door. Looking inside this box, the officers found various items such as a milk crate, an oil can, and tools. Upon examining the STP oil can, officer Mike Foreman noticed a fake bottom. He opened the bottom and found a plastic bag with white powder along with eighteen smaller bags. The powder was determined to be a mixture of amphetamine and methamphetamine weighing 40.01 grams (1.41 ounces). While the police were conducting the search, Frazier was sitting in a patrol car with Officer Chuck Smith. The State presented testimony that at the exact time the STP oil can was found, Frazier began clutching his chest and acting as if he could not breathe. The State presented further evidence that after the drugs were found, Frazier returned to his normal condition and needed no medical assistance. Subsequently, Frazier was arrested.
¶ 3. A consensual search of Angie Sutton's house on the same night produced several baggies with at least one apparently containing methamphetamine residue. In her testimony at trial Sutton stated that she had removed the baggies from Frazier's home when she had been cleaning it while he was out of town.
PROCEEDINGS BELOW
¶ 4. Frazier was indicted for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He was convicted in the Union County Circuit Court and sentenced to serve a term of twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved with that conviction and sentence, Frazier has perfected an appeal to this Court.
ARGUMENT AND DISCUSSION OF LAW
¶ 5. Frazier argues that his conviction for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Frazier contends that the State presented no evidence that would connect him to the methamphetamine found in the unlocked toolbox. The State maintains that the record contains credible, substantial testimony and evidence in support of the jury's verdict. The State also contends that Frazier faked a heart attack at the exact time the officers were examining the STP oil can. The State argues that this action amounts to a behavioral admission by Frazier. We disagree.
¶ 6. Our standard for reviewing challenges to convictions based on the weight of the evidence is well-established. As to each element of the offense, we consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. We reverse when, with respect to an element of the offense charged, the evidence is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could only find the accused not guilty. McClain v. State, 625 So.2d 774, 778 (Miss.1993).
¶ 7. In order to support a conviction for possession of a controlled substance, the State is not required to prove actual physical possession. Berry v. State, 652 So.2d 745, 748 (Miss.1995). Rather, the State may establish constructive possession by evidence showing that the contraband was under the dominion and control of the defendant. Id. "A presumption of constructive possession arises against an owner of premises upon which contraband is found." Cunningham v. State, 583 So.2d 960, 962 (Miss.1991). However, "when contraband is found on premises which are not owned by a defendant . the State must show additional incriminating circumstances to justify a finding of constructive possession." Id.
¶ 8. This Court and the Mississippi Supreme Court have consistently held that proximity is an essential element to establish constructive possession, but by itself is not adequate in the absence of other incriminating circumstances. Cunningham, 583 So.2d 960, 962 (Miss.1991). Additionally, where the defendant is on the premises of another, or as in the case at bar, operating the vehicle of another, the State must prove as essential elements that the defendant had dominion and control over the contraband (Fultz v. State, 573 So.2d 689, 689 (Miss.1990)) and knowledge of the presence and character of the cocaine. Campbell v. State, 566 So.2d 475 (Miss.1990).
Although the Court in Curry stated that possession is not a question susceptible of a specific rule, guidelines were set out to follow in analyzing each case. First, the State must prove that the defendant exercised dominion over the contraband. Curry, 249 So.2d at 416. Second, the State must prove that the defendant was aware of the presence and character of the substance. Id.
Id.
¶ 9. In the case sub judice, the State failed to show additional incriminating circumstances to justify a finding of constructive possession. The State established the following facts which it would construe as sufficient to prove Frazier's guilt:
1. The one baggy containing methamphetamine was found in a truck that had been in Frazier's possession for twenty-five and one-half hours after having been in the possession of Jim Adams for fifteen days prior to Frazier's driving the truck. Additionally, the truck and the unlocked toolbox had been parked unattended for one hour prior to the police search of the vehicle.
2. Baggies with methamphetamine residue were found, not at Frazier's residence, but at Sutton's home which she claimed she removed from Frazier's home.
3. Frazier refused consent to the police search stating that he wanted to call his boss to obtain the boss's permission before allowing a search of his truck.
4. Frazier exhibited some behavior which the police inferred to be physical distress of some sort at the time the toolbox was being searched. The State claims that Frazier's actions in faking a heart attack amounted to incriminating circumstances.
¶ 10. The State incorrectly asserts that Frazier's possession of the truck for twen ty-five hours qualifies as an incriminating circumstance. Ferrell v. State, 649 So.2d 831, 834 (Miss.1995). The circumstances cited in this case are insufficient to show that Frazier exercised dominion and control over the STP can. The STP can was in an unlocked toolbox on the outside of the truck accessible to anyone. Although Frazier had been driving the truck that day, the evidence established that other drivers had access to the truck. Furthermore, Frazier's fingerprints were not found on the STP can or the plastic bags containing the contraband.
¶ 11. The State would further offer, as additional incriminating evidence, baggies with methamphetamine residue not found in Frazier's possession or control, nor at his place of residence, but allegedly taken by Angie Sutton from Frazier's residence at a time when he was out of town.
¶ 12. Additionally, in order to affirm this conviction we must infer that Frazier's physical distress, as reported by the arresting officers, amounts to an admission of guilt. In Cunningham v. State, 583 So.2d 960 (Miss.1991) the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a constructive possession conviction based, in part, on the officers' assuming Cunningham knew there was contraband in the car in which he was riding because he "repeatedly looked through the truck's rear window at the officers after they turned on their blue lights." Id. at 962. The court found this insufficient corroboration as they "doubtfed] anyone who has found an emergency vehicle with flashing lights behind him has not turned and looked at such vehicle." Id. The Court finds the State's or the jury's assumption that Frazier was faking a heart attack rather than experiencing extreme stress in the situation in which he was placed too tenuous to sustain this conviction. This argument fails to show that the contraband was under the dominion and control of the defendant. Fultz, 573 So.2d at 689.
¶ 13. Finally, the State asks us to consider Frazier's refusal to allow a police search of the vehicle until he placed a call to his boss as incriminating evidence. Making this leap in reasoning comes very close to penalizing a citizen for exercising his constitutional right against unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 3 section 23 of the Mississippi Constitution. By affirming a decision by a jury which may have taken this leap to arrive at a verdict of guilt, we are inconsistent with well established principles of law which state that the exercise of a constitutional right may not be used as evidence against a defendant. Griffin v. State, 557 So.2d 542, 553 (Miss.1990) (finding reference to defendant's exercising his Fifth Amendment right not to testify as deprivation of fair trial). See also Jimpson v. State, 532 So.2d 985, 991 (Miss.1988); Livingston v. State, 525 So.2d 1300, 1305-08 (Miss.1988); Monroe v. State, 515 So.2d 860, 865 (Miss.1987); Bridgeforth v. State, 498 So.2d 796, 798 (Miss.1986); Wilson v. State, 433 So.2d 1142, 1146 (Miss.1983); Davis v. State, 406 So.2d 795, 801 (Miss.1981).
¶ 14. It is the Courts's opinion that the State failed in its efforts to prove, even by circumstantial evidence, the elements of possession. Therefore, it is further this Court's opinion that reasonable men could not have found Frazier guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. McClain v. State, 625 So.2d 774, 778 (Miss.1993).
¶ 15. Beyond proving possession, constructive or otherwise, Frazier was charged with intent to distribute the controlled substance. This charge brings with it an entirely different set of problems for the prosecution to contend with, specifically the lack of circumstantial evidence probative of intent to distribute. When the amount of the controlled substance recovered is consistent with personal use, other evidence of possible involvement in the drug trade may be used to establish intent. Jowers v. State, 593 So.2d 46, 47 (Miss.1992). Despite strong dissent, the Jowers court found that three separate bags con taining just under eleven ounces of marijuana (approximately 300 grams), two sets of portable scales, $356 in cash and other items were insufficient to support a conviction for intent to distribute marijuana. The State offered no such evidence here other than the smaller bags found with the controlled substance. Since we reverse on the State's failure to prove constructive possession, this becomes a moot point.
¶ 16. After reviewing the evidence, this Court is unable to find sufficient incriminating evidence to establish possession. Accordingly, we reverse and render the judgment of the circuit court in favor of the appellant.
¶ 17. THE JUDGMENT OF THE UNION COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT OF CONVICTION OF POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE IS REVERSED AND RENDERED. COSTS OF APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO UNION COUNTY.
McMILLIN, C.J., AND KING P.J., LEE, AND THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR. IRVING DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY SOUTHWICK, P.J., MOORE AND PAYNE, JJ. MYERS, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.