Opinion ID: 795598
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: insufficient evidence: possession

Text: 43 Ross also argues that there was insufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt that he possessed the cocaine base found in the basement of 183 Sixth Street, a finding which was necessary to support his conviction for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. Possession with intent to distribute narcotics may be established by proof of the defendant's actual or constructive possession of the narcotics. United States v. Gordils, 982 F.2d 64, 71 (2d Cir.1992). To establish constructive possession, the government must demonstrate that [Ross] had `the power and intention to exercise dominion and control over' the cocaine base found at 183 Sixth Street. United States v. Rodriguez, 392 F.3d 539, 548 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting United States v. Payton, 159 F.3d 49, 56 (2d Cir.1998)). The defendant's dominion and control over the contraband need not be exclusive. Morgan, 385 F.3d at 207; see also Eltayib, 88 F.3d at 172 (Dominion and control of contraband, either exclusively or in association with others, are sufficient to prove possession.). Although mere presence at the location of contraband does not establish possession, Rodriguez, 392 F.3d at 548, we have held that presence under a particular set of circumstances from which a reasonable jury could conclude that the defendant constructively possessed contraband located there would support a conviction. United States v. Soto, 959 F.2d 1181, 1185 (2d Cir.1992) (rejecting insufficiency claim where defendant was present at apartment containing three separate crack packaging stations and without money to support argument that he was there as a mere purchaser.); see also United States v. Benitez, 920 F.2d 1080, 1089 (2d Cir.1990) (rejecting insufficiency claim where defendant jumped out of the window of an apartment where narcotics, weapons, and other evidence of an ongoing narcotics operation were found). 44 Much of the same circumstantial evidence supporting Ross's conspiracy conviction also supported submissibility of the substantive possession charge. First, witnesses testified to purchasing crack cocaine from Ross at 190 Sixth Street, where other witnesses purchased crack cocaine from the Snow brothers and their associates, and still other witnesses testified that Ross accompanied Marcus Snow during crack cocaine and cocaine transactions at both 183 Sixth Street and 190 Sixth Street. More importantly, the landlord of 183 Sixth Street testified to renting the apartment to Ross, giving him a set of keys, seeing him move in, and seeing him there on the landlord's visits to the apartment. Lastly, the police found Ross, present at 183 Sixth Street under circumstances providing ample grounds for a reasonable jury to conclude that he exercised dominion or control over the cocaine base found there, since he was fleeing the premises without shoes and a coat in January, in Rochester, New York. See Soto, 959 F.2d at 1185; Benitez, 920 F.2d at 1089. 45 The evidence in Rodriguez, which reversed convictions for both conspiracy to distribute and possession on insufficiency grounds, provides a useful contrast to the instant case. 392 F.3d 539. There, the only evidence linking the defendant to any drug trafficking was that he had been seen surveying a parking lot shortly before a drug transaction there; drugs were found in the back seat of his car, hidden inside a box and wrapped in two bags; and the defendant may have been in the back seat of the car at some point while the drugs were there. Id. at 548-49. We held that the government had presented no evidence the defendant knew that he was conducting surveillance in order to facilitate a drug deal, that he knew such a drug deal had even occurred, or that he exercised dominion or control over the drugs found in the back seat of his car. Id. Accordingly, we concluded that a reasonable juror could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Rodriguez exercised dominion or control over the drugs in the car. 46 The evidence of constructive possession here is much stronger than that in Rodriguez. While there was no evidence the Rodriguez defendant was involved in any drug trafficking, there was ample evidence of Ross's involvement in numerous drug transactions occurring in and around the Sixth Street apartments. Multiple witnesses testified to Ross's possession and distribution of crack cocaine, his involvement with the Snow brothers in the possession and distribution of crack cocaine, and his presence during drug transactions involving multiple ounces of crack cocaine at 183 Sixth Street. Viewed in this context, Ross's presence at and flight from 183 Sixth Street at the time of the raid as well as the circumstances surrounding the rental of the apartment, provided sufficient evidence from which a jury could find that he constructively possessed the crack cocaine found in the apartment's basement. 47