Court Opinion

ID: 9768332
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:56:21.507123+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:39.490487
License: Public Domain

WELLIVER, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
Section 217.360, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1984, sets forth an offense with three elements:
(1) possession of a controlled substance
(2) in or about the premises or a correctional institution, and
(3) knowledge of that possession.
The majority allows a jury to convict a defendant after the prosecution has produced evidence of only two of the three required elements of the offense. Heretofore, we have required that the prosecution prove each and every element of the offense, by either direct or circumstantial evidence. State v. Bums, 457 S.W.2d 721 (Mo.1970). The majority now holds that a showing of one element, possession, creates a prima facie case for another element, knowledge. The defendant is no longer innocent until proven guilty,1 but, now he must prove his lack of knowledge and his innocence.
For the foregoing reasons, I dissent.

. See, e.g., State v. Galbraith, 50 S.W.2d 1035 (Mo.1932).