Court Opinion

ID: 9587066
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:17:44.956338+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:33:00.794463
License: Public Domain

Justice TIMMONS-GOODSON
dissenting.
As I conclude, the State presented insufficient evidence that defendant constructively possessed the cocaine discovered by law enforcement officers, I respectfully dissent.
The majority correctly notes that “unless a defendant has exclusive possession of the place where contraband is found, the State must show other incriminating circumstances sufficient for the jury to find a defendant had constructive possession.” Here, it is uncontroverted that defendant did not have exclusive possession of the apartment or even the bedroom in which the cocaine was discovered. Thus, the State was required to provide evidence of other incriminating circumstances to show that defendant constructively possessed the cocaine. This the State failed to do. The majority identifies only two factors in support of its conclusion that the State produced substantial evidence of defendant’s possession of the cocaine: (1) defendant’s proximity to the cocaine; and (2) the presence of defendant’s birth certificate and identification card on top of a television stand. I do not agree with the majority that defendant’s mere proximity to the cocaine, which was not in plain view, or the presence of his birth certificate and identification card, which were in plain view and, in fact, showed defendant lived elsewhere, constituted sufficiently incriminating circumstances to permit more than a mere suspicion of defendant’s guilt. See State v. Stone, 323 N.C. 447, 452, 373 S.E.2d 430, 433 (1988) (stating that “a motion to dismiss should be allowed where the facts and circumstances warranted by the evidence do no more than raise a suspicion of guilt or conjecture since there would still remain a reasonable doubt as to defendant’s guilt”). I therefore respectfully dissent.
Justice HUDSON joins in this dissenting opinion.