Court Opinion

ID: 9706551
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:46:13.243852+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:23.559334
License: Public Domain

GRAVES, Justice,
dissenting.
Respectfully, I dissent. Appellee had an interstate drug dealing operation going on inside her apartment, while just outside the door, hidden in a car over which she had exclusive dominion and control, was a semi-automatic handgun with a box of ammunition and two ammunition clips.
The Commonwealth presented legally sufficient evidence to satisfy each element of the statute, namely KRS 218A.992, which provides for an enhanced penalty for being in possession of a firearm when committing a drug offense. The trial court denied a directed verdict for Appellee and the jury found Appellee guilty. However, motivated by what can only be described as infused knowledge, both the majority and the Court of Appeals have grafted an additional element onto the statute. That is, the majority would require a nexus (an *634actual active operative connection) between the commission of the drug offense and the possession of a firearm.
This matter is brought into sharper focus by reviewing the unrefuted evidence of Appellee’s constructive possession of the firearm in conjunction with her extensive interstate drug dealing business:
1. A large quantity (i.e. nine ounces) of crack cocaine was found in Appellee’s residence, along with scales and other drug paraphernalia containing cocaine residue.
2. Appellee admitted at trial, and to police at the scene, that she received large quantities of the cocaine from an out-of-state supplier and she prepared the drug for local re-sale.
3. Appellee’s collaborator, Ronald Johnson, confirmed the admissions about the drug trafficking business.
4. The firearm was a 380 caliber semiautomatic handgun located in the trunk of a car parked just outside Appellee’s apartment.
5. Appellee admitted placing the gun in the car.
6. Appellee admitted that she drove the car in the weeks and months immediately prior to the search.
7. Appellee testified that others did not know the gun was in the car.
Here, the majority is affirming a Court of Appeals opinion holding that the trial court erred in denying a directed verdict of acquittal because under the evidence as a whole it was clearly unreasonable for the jury to find guilt. Commonwealth v. Benham, Ky., 816 S.W.2d 186, 187 (1991). However, on a motion for a directed verdict the trial court must draw all fair and reasonable inferences from the evidence in favor of the Commonwealth. Edmonds v. Commonwealth, Ky., 906 S.W.2d 343 (1995).
The majority’s interpretation of KRS 218.992 is inconsistent with the plain language of the statute. The statute does not require proof of a nexus between the firearm possession and the drug offenses. All that is required is possession. Possession is a question of fact ordinarily not-reviewable by an appellate court. Inherent in the concept of possession is accessibility. Here the statute was fully satisfied. There was more than sufficient evidence for the fact finder to infer a sufficient connection.
Houston v. Commonwealth, Ky., 975 S.W.2d 925 (1998), holds that a drug violation penalty may be enhanced under KRS 218A.992 if the violator has constructive possession of a firearm. The facts in this case clearly satisfy the constructive possession requirement of Houston because the weapon was only a few feet away and retrievable in a matter of seconds.
Legislatures have enhanced the penalty for possession of a firearm in connection with drug dealings because a firearm increases the likelihood and potential for greater violence. Moreover, the accessibility and proximity of semi-automatic handguns for drug dealers creates a daily and deadly challenge not only to crime control but also to public safety. Appellee did not have a mere hunting rifle in her possession, but rather she had ready access to a lethal semi-automatic handgun. This type of weapon is standard equipment for successful drug dealers.
LAMBERT, C.J., and WINTERSHEIMER, J., join in this dissenting opinion.