Court Opinion

ID: 9773239
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:40:29.941015+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:51.224073
License: Public Domain

*828GEORGE M. FLANIGAN, Special Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur fully in part II of the principal opinion. I respectfully dissent from part I because, in my view, the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict.
It was incumbent upon the state to prove defendant’s knowledge of the “nature of the substance.” State v. Barber, 635 S.W.2d 342, 343-44 (Mo.1982). To similar effect see State v. Gulley, 776 S.W.2d 492, 494 (Mo.App.1989); State v. Garrett, 765 S.W.2d 314, 315 (Mo.App.1988); State v. Vincent, 755 S.W.2d 400, 401 (Mo.App.1988); State v. Moiser, 738 S.W.2d 549, 558 (Mo.App.1987); State v. Sand, 731 S.W.2d 488, 491 (Mo.App.1987); State v. Norwood, 721 S.W.2d 175, 178 (Mo.App.1986); State v. Carouthers, 714 S.W.2d 867, 869 (Mo.App.1986); State v. Caldwell, 698 S.W.2d 566, 573 (Mo.App.1985); MAI-CR 3d 325.02. See also State v. Green, 629 S.W.2d 326 (Mo. banc 1982). The deficiency lies in the lack of evidence from which a reasonable juror might have found that defendant was aware of the nature of the substance in question, methamphetamine.
The portion of the principal opinion with which I disagree reads:
In particular, the presence of the methamphetamine, concealed in a styrofoam cup and among the defendant’s garments alongside such paraphernalia as a vial, a candle holder, and folded slick paper, on top of the dresser and in the drawer allocated to the defendant, who had been on the premises the morning of the search and had lived there for over 10 years, also entitled the jury to find the defendant was aware of the nature of the methamphetamine in question.
At 824.
I agree that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that Exhibit 2, the clear glass vial, and Exhibit 3, a “small piece of slick paper that’s folded,” contained methamphetamine. I also agree that the jury could find that Exhibit 3 was in a dresser drawer used exclusively by the defendant, that defendant had been present in the house just a few hours before the officers discovered the two exhibits, and that defendant was in possession of methamphetamine and had exclusive control over the area, the drawer, in which Exhibit 3 was found.
The principal opinion describes the methamphetamine as having been “concealed in a styrofoam cup.” There was evidence that the substance was in the cup, but that alone is not evidence of concealment. The principal opinion also refers to the cup being “alongside such paraphernalia as a vial, a candle holder, and folded slick paper.” There was no testimony referring to those three items as paraphernalia. There was no testimony that any of them had in fact been used in the consumption of methamphetamine. There was no testimony that any such item is frequently used in connection with methamphetamine.
In my view, a vial is not, per se, an incriminating item, and the same is true of a candle holder and folded slick paper. Each of those items is commonly found in a household and may properly be used non-criminally. I see nothing incriminating about the possession of all three, or their proximity to the methamphetamine. This is not a situation where an article, such as certain burglary tools, may be unique so that a jury could properly infer that its intended use is criminal.
In short, I feel the jury could properly find, as they did, that defendant possessed methamphetamine, but I find nothing in the evidence to support the inference that defendant was aware of its nature. That insufficiency precludes remand for a new trial and defendant must be acquitted. Barber, 635 S.W.2d at 345; State v. Basham, 568 S.W.2d 518 (Mo. banc 1978).
In support of the quoted statement, the principal opinion cites State v. Lockhart, 501 S.W.2d 163 (Mo.1973); Barber, 635 S.W.2d 342; State v. Zimpher, 552 S.W.2d 345 (Mo.App.1977); State v. Pacchetti, 729 S.W.2d 621 (Mo.App.1987). In my view, each of those eases is distinguishable.
In Lockhart, the officers who entered defendant’s residence “saw on the dresser a plastic bag which contained a hypodermic *829syringe and needle, three eye droppers with hypodermic needles in them, three bottle caps and a small ball of cotton.” Lockhart, 501 S.W.2d at 164. In response to a question by one of the officers, Lockhart stated that the items were his. He was charged with possession of apparatus for unauthorized use of narcotic drugs, not with possession of a controlled substance. This Court, in affirming the conviction, referred to the items as “narcotics paraphernalia.” At the trial, officers testified as to “how the items were adapted for the unlawful use of narcotic drugs.” No such testimony was given here.
In Barber, a conviction for possession of . controlled substances was reversed because the evidence was insufficient to show defendant had actual possession of the controlled substances.
In Zimpher, the court of appeals affirmed a conviction for possession and control of marijuana in a quantity exceeding 35 grams. Among the items found to be in the possession of the defendant, including the marijuana, were “another bag containing a wood and brass pipe, cigarette papers and a plant material in the drawer of a night stand beside the bed in which the defendant and Johnson had been sleeping.” Zimpher, 552 S.W.2d at 347. The plant material was marijuana.
In Pacchetti, a jury found defendant guilty of manslaughter, distribution of cocaine and possession of more than 35 grams of marijuana. Defendant did not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence with respect to the cocaine and marijuana offenses. Moreover, there was evidence that defendant had made statements concerning “opening on cocaine.”
I would reverse the judgment.