Court Opinion

ID: 9765486
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:03:45.487019+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:10.394136
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
I am disturbed by the majority’s willingness, without caution or comment, to allow a “legal fiction” to support a criminal conviction. I do not challenge the validity of “constructive possession” as a precept of the criminal law. There are circumstances in which the aggregate of the evidence permits the conclusion that possession has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt even though evidence directly connecting the defendant with the contraband is lacking. This is no fiction, but rather a realistic assessment of the entire body of evidence. As used by the majority, however, “constructive possession” is indeed a fiction, reducing the quantum of proof necessary for the Commonwealth to establish its case.
Properly applied, constructive possession permits the Commonwealth to rely on proof of “conscious dominion” over an object rather than requiring a demonstration of immediate physical control. We rephrased this most recently as “the power to control the contraband and the intent to exercise that control.” Commonwealth v. Macolino, 503 Pa. 201, 206, 469 A.2d 132, 134 (1983) (emphasis added). So long as the evidence relates to the power and intent to control the contraband, I agree that it can support an inference of possession of the contraband. Here, however, the majority permits evidence which goes only to the Appellee’s power to control the premises to support an inference *311of possession of the contraband. All of the minutiae cited by the majority at page 1214 of the Opinion — the shared bedroom, the dog, the clothes, the refrigerator — are relevant to proving only the Appellee’s power with respect to the area where the contraband was found. No evidence is cited, for none is present in the record, which is relevant to proving the Appellee’s intent to control the contraband. In truth, the Appellee’s conduct with regard to the contraband in plain view during the search of the residence demonstrates more an unconscious disregard of the contraband than a conscious dominion over it.1 I abhor this loose application of language setting out standards of proof in a criminal context. Where before the Commonwealth was bound to show “the power to control the contraband and the intent to exercise that control,” Id., now it is apparently sufficient to prove only “shared access to and control of the area where the contraband was found.” On this basis I fail to see how this case is distinguishable from Commonwealth v. Tirpak, 441 Pa. 534, 272 A.2d 476 (1971); Commonwealth v. Fortune, 456 Pa. 365, 318 A.2d 327 (1974), and Commonwealth v. Chenet, 473 Pa. 181, 373 A.2d 1107 (1977) and must conclude that they have been overruled sub silentio.
In Macolino the Court was wary of providing “a privileged sanctuary for the storage of illegal contraband,” noting that without the concept of constructive possession “simply by storing contraband in a place controlled by more than one party, a spouse, roomate [sic], partner, would render all impervious to prosecution.” 503 Pa. at 210, 469 A.2d at 136. Nevertheless, in that case we did not rely on Macolino's control of the residence as establishing control of the contraband, but were careful to weigh that evidence “in conjunction with other evidence sufficient to establish a *312link between Carol Macolino and the illegal substance.” Id., 503 Pa. at 209, 469 A.2d at 136. By abandoning the need for such other evidence, the majority creates a grave risk of an unscrupulous cohabitant intentionally or unintentionally exposing his innocent partner to criminal liability simply by storing contraband in a place over which there is “shared access and control.” The burden has been effectively shifted to the defendant to disprove his intent to exercise control over the contraband, a result which offends the most basic principles of our system of justice.
I would affirm the Order of the Superior Court.

. I suspect that the majority would also permit an attempt to conceal contraband during a search to be considered as evidence of guilt in a possessory charge. If so, there would appear to be no sure way for an innocent resident or occupant of a room to disassociate himself from its contents, for he is implicitly demonstrating an intent to control whether he acknowledges or ignores the contents.