Williams v. State, 97-4340
| Citation | 724 So.2d 1214 |
| Decision Date | 16 December 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-4340,97-4340 |
| Parties | Derrick WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Sophia Letts, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Rochelle L. Kirdy, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
Appellant was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He argues that there was insufficient evidence to establish his constructive possession of the firearm, which was found in a vehicle occupied by the appellant and two others. We reverse.
Appellant was the driver of a car being pursued by the police. After the car struck something and came to a stop, all three of the occupants got out of the car and fled. Appellant was apprehended and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon because the police found a firearm on the driver's bucket seat. The car was a four door which had contained two people in the front and one in the rear. Appellant's fingerprints were not found on the gun.
Where a defendant is not in actual possession of a firearm, constructive possession must be established. Dupree v. State, 705 So.2d 90 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). Constructive possession exists where an accused does not have physical possession of contraband but (1) knows it is within his presence and (2) has the ability to maintain control over it and (3) knows of the illicit nature of the contraband. Smith v. State, 687 So.2d 875 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). If the area in which the contraband is found is within the defendant's exclusive possession, his guilty knowledge of the presence of the contraband and his ability to maintain control over it may be inferred. Jordan v. State, 548 So.2d 737 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). If the property where a controlled substance is found is in joint rather than exclusive possession of the accused, then knowledge of the contraband's presence and the ability to control it will not be inferred from the accused's presence but must be established by independent proof. Moffatt v. State, 583 So.2d 779 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991).
In Moffatt the driver of a vehicle, in which there was also a passenger, was convicted of possessing drugs found under a cooler on the driver's side rear seat of the vehicle. In reversing the conviction, the first district observed that the evidence presented by the state was not inconsistent with the reasonable hypothesis that the passenger had placed the drugs under the cooler unbeknownst to the driver. Similarly, the evidence presented by the state in the present case was not inconsistent with one of the passengers having placed the gun on the seat when they fled.
In Smith the defendant was a passenger, and the police found a gun wedged down about eight inches between the driver's bucket seat and the console of the vehicle. The second district reversed appellant's conviction for carrying a concealed...
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...to it, if not actually touching it, and readily could have reached it with the slightest movement of his arm. Cf. Williams v. State, 724 So.2d 1214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (reversing conviction for possession of firearm by convicted felon, where car driven by defendant and occupied by two other......
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Earle v. State, No. 98-4393
...or presence near the contraband, but must be established by independent proof. See Brown, 428 So.2d at 252; Williams v. State, 724 So.2d 1214, 1215 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). Such proof may consist of evidence of actual knowledge of the contraband's presence, evidence of incriminating statements ......
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Blackshear v. State
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Wilson v. State, 5D99-3578.
...To be a principal, the defendant does not have to be present when the crime is [committed] [or] [attempted]. 8. In Williams v. State, 724 So.2d 1214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), the court Constructive possession exists where an accused does not have physical possession of contraband but (1) knows i......