Court Opinion

ID: 9855901
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:33:54.797557+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:16.813211
License: Public Domain

STEPHENSON, J.,
dissenting.
It is my opinion that the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, is insufficient to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Where, as here, a conviction is based on circumstantial evidence:
to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt all necessary circumstances proved must be consistent with guilt and incon*452sistent with innocence. They must overcome the presumption of innocence and exclude all reasonable conclusions inconsistent with that of guilt. To accomplish that, the chain of necessary circumstances must be unbroken and the evidence as a whole must satisfy the guarded judgment that both, the corpus delicti and the criminal agency of the accused have been proved to the exclusion of any other rational hypothesis and to a moral certainty ....
LaPrade v. Commonwealth, 191 Va. 410, 418, 61 S.E.2d 313, 316 (1950).
The majority says “[t]he trial court could reasonably conclude that she was aware of the contents of the room and had stationed herself where she could exercise dominion and control over the marijuana.” I cannot agree with this characterization of the evidence. Trooper Gwaltney could not state whether Mrs. Eckhart was in the hall when the police arrived. Further, he testified that the scales and other accessories, not the drugs themselves, were in plain view. Finally, when asked whether either of the bedrooms was being used by the occupants, Gwaltney stated that he did not know if anyone was staying in the room where the drugs were found and that the other bedroom was the one “that was being used by the occupants of the house.”
Even using the majority’s characterization of the evidence, it cannot support a conviction. I have no disagreement with the majority’s statements that constructive possession “may be shown by establishing that the marijuana was known to and subject to the dominion and control of the accused,” and that “[knowledge of the presence and character of the controlled substance may be shown by evidence of the acts, statements or conduct of the accused.” However, it has pointed to no acts, statements or conduct of the accused that would lead to the conclusion that she had knowledge of the presence of the drugs.
Mere proximity to controlled drugs is insufficient to establish possession. Womack v. Commonwealth, 220 Va. 5, 7, 255 S.E.2d 351, 352 (1979). Nor does ownership or occupancy of premises in which controlled drugs are found “create a presumption that such person either knowingly or intentionally possessed” them, Code § 18.2-250, although this is a factor that may be considered with other evidence in determining whether one had constructive pos*453session. Gillis v. Commonwealth, 215 Va. 298, 301, 208 S.E.2d 768, 770-71 (1974).
We have held the evidence to be insufficient for conviction in other cases where the accused had knowledge of the drug’s presence or exercised dominion and control over the premises. Thus, in Clodfelter v. Commonwealth, 218 Va. 619, 238 S.E.2d 820 (1977), drugs were found in the hotel room rented to the defendant, he had the only key to the room, there was evidence that he occupied it, and when first questioned by the police, he gave a false name. This court stated that while the evidence created a strong suspicion of guilt, it fell short of proving possession beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 623, 238 S.E.2d at 822.
In Huvar v. Commonwealth, 212 Va. 667, 187 S.E.2d 177 (1972), the defendant was arrested in the bathroom of an apartment, drugs were scattered in plain view in other rooms, the apartment smelled of marijuana and the defendant appeared to have been using drugs. We held that the defendant did not have constructive possession of the drugs found in the apartment.
In Wright v. Commonwealth, 217 Va. 669, 232 S.E.2d 733 (1977), the defendant, a former drug user, was found in the bedroom of an apartment. Also present was Jimmy Ray Carter, who dropped a syringe as police entered. Heroin was found at Carter’s feet and under a dresser three feet from Wright. Holding that mere proximity was not enough and refusing to engage in “speculation and conjecture,” Id. at 670, 232 S.E.2d at 734, we reversed Wright’s conviction.
Mrs. Eckhart had no more dominion and control over the bedroom than Clodfelter did over his hotel room. She was no closer to the drugs nor had more reason to know of them than Huvar or Wright. Moreover, she did not engage in deceptive conduct, as did Clodfelter, nor did she have the knowledge of drugs that Wright, a former user, had.
The conviction in this case is based on speculation and conjecture. The circumstantial evidence, at most, creates a suspicion of guilt. Since the Commonwealth failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and the defendant’s guilt has not “been proved to the exclusion of any other rational hypothesis and to a moral certainty,” I would reverse the conviction.
POFF and THOMPSON, JJ., join in dissent.