Court Opinion

ID: 9678416
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:19:08.608926+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:04.352314
License: Public Domain

CROW, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Although this is a close case, I believe the evidence, viewed favorably to the verdict, State v. Grim, 854 S.W.2d 403, 405 (Mo. banc 1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 562, 126 L.Ed.2d 462 (1993), is sufficient to support the conviction.
At the site of the stop, Officer Box asked Defendant whose van it was, and Defendant said he did not know. Yet, when Box asked Defendant if he (Box) could look in the van for guns and drugs, Defendant consented without seeking authority from Rodriguez, the only other occupant. The jury could reasonably infer from this that Defendant shared control over the van with Rodriguez.
Furthermore, Defendant, by his own admission, had started with Rodriguez (a resident alien with no driver’s license) in San Antonio, Texas, and was sharing the driving with him. The duo had little clothing with them, apparently only enough for a couple of changes. Yet, Defendant denied knowledge of their destination.
As noted in the majority opinion, actual possession is unnecessary to sustain a conviction; constructive possession will suffice when other facts buttress an inference of an accused’s knowledge of the presence of the controlled substance. State v. West, 559 S.W.2d 282, 284[3] (Mo.App.1977). Both possession and knowledge may be proved by circumstantial evidence. State v. Barber, 635 S.W.2d 342, 343[3] (Mo.1982).
The jury found the evidence sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The jurors could have reasonably believed Defendant’s professed ignorance of the destination was a ploy to conceal the identity of the party to whom the marijuana was being conveyed. Defendant had no explanation to Box for accompanying Rodriguez. Defendant did not claim he was kin to Rodriguez, that he was being paid for his help, or that they were traveling on business or for pleasure. Defendant’s denial of knowing the destination bars any inference that he was sharing the driving in return for transportation to a place he wanted to go.
Those factors, coupled with the substantial quantity of marijuana (almost 200 pounds) and the circumstances recounted earlier, are, in my opinion, sufficient to support a finding that Defendant was a joint venturer with Rodriguez in trafficking the marijuana.