Court Opinion

ID: 9730250
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:06:34.935279+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:05.230548
License: Public Domain

Neal, Judge, concurring. I concur in the reversal of this case. I write separately to note that in Miller v. State, 68 Ark. App. 332, 6 S.W.3d 812 (1999), we said that “although the marijuana was not in plain view, we believe that the fact that the police officer smelled marijuana upon approaching the vehicle tends to establish that appellant had knowledge of the presence of the marijuana. It is the knowledge of the existence of the contraband that provides substantial evidence of constructive possession.” However, upon further contemplation, I now believe that the language in Miller, supra, should read that when the fact that the police officer smelled marijuana upon approaching the vehicle is coupled with the driver’s testimony that all the vehicle’s occupants knew that the marijuana was in the vehicle, the evidence tends to establish that appellant had knowledge of the presence of the marijuana. It is this knowledge of the existence of the contraband that provides substantial evidence of constmctive possession.