Adams v. State

946 N.E.2d 630, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 558, 2011 WL 1204836
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 31, 2011
Docket29A02-1008-CR-903
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 946 N.E.2d 630 (Adams v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adams v. State, 946 N.E.2d 630, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 558, 2011 WL 1204836 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

*632 OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Michael B. Adams appeals his conviction of Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana. 1 He also appeals the trial court’s decision to suspend his driver’s license and registration pursuant to Ind. Code § 35-48-4-15. 2 We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On September 30, 2009, Adams was a passenger in a car pulled over for speeding. The officer approached the car on the passenger side to request identification from Adams and the driver, and the officer noticed Adams reaching in the area between the seat and the door. When Adams rolled down the passenger window, the officer smelled raw marijuana. Both occupants of the vehicle presented their licenses. The officer checked for outstanding warrants, returned to the car, and asked the men to exit the car.

Once Adams and the driver were outside the car, the officer inquired why the car smelled of marijuana. The driver admitted he smoked marijuana in the car before Adams entered the car. Both the driver and Adams denied there was any illegal substance in the car; however, the officer saw a jar containing marijuana on the passenger-side floor, protruding from beneath the passenger seat where Adams had been sitting.

The court convicted Adams of Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana and sentenced him to 365 days, with 363 suspended to probation. The trial court also suspended Adams’ driver’s license and vehicle registration for 180 days pursuant to Ind.Code § 35-48-4-15.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

1. Sufficiency of the Evidence

When reviewing sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction, we consider only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the trial court’s decision. Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146 (Ind.2007). It is the fact-finder’s role, and not ours, to assess witness credibility and weigh the evidence to determine whether it is sufficient to support a conviction. Id. To preserve this structure, when we are confronted with conflicting evidence we consider it most favorably to the trial court’s ruling. Id. We affirm a conviction unless no reasonable fact-finder could find the elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. It is therefore not necessary that the evidence overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence; rather, the evidence is sufficient if an inference reasonably may be drawn from it to support the trial court’s decision. Id. at 147.

Possession can be actual or constructive. Lampkins v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1268, 1275 (Ind.1997), modified on reh’g on other grounds, 685 N.E.2d 698 (Ind.1997). As Adams did not have actual possession of the marijuana in question, we must determine whether the State proved he constructively possessed it. For the State to prove constructive possession, it must prove the defendant had the intent and capability to maintain dominion and control over the contraband. Id. To prove intent to maintain dominion and control, there must be additional circumstances supporting the inference of intent. Id. Proximity to contraband in plain view is one such circumstance. Id. Constructive *633 possession may also be proven by a defendant’s incriminating statements, attempted flight or furtive gestures, or the comin-gling of contraband with other items the defendant owns. Henderson v. State, 715 N.E.2d 833, 835-36 (Ind.1999). Where a passenger is charged with possession, the evidence is more likely to be sufficient when the passenger could see the contraband and was the best position to access it, and when no evidence clearly indicates it belonged to or was under the control of another occupant of the vehicle. Deshazier v. State, 877 N.E.2d 200, 208 (Ind.Ct.App.2007), trans. denied.

Adams was in the front passenger seat and the marijuana was in plain view on the front passenger-side floorboard. When the officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle, Adams reached between the seat and the door, and Adams seemed “extremely nervous [and] his hand was visibly shaking.” (Tr. at 39.) The officer testified he smelled raw marijuana when Adams rolled down the window. This evidence is sufficient to prove Adams constructively possessed the marijuana found on the front passenger floorboard in the vehicle. Cf., Godar v. State, 643 N.E.2d 12, 15 (Ind.Ct.App.1994) (evidence not sufficient when marijuana merely found under defendant passenger’s seat because the contraband was not in plain view and defendant did not “act furtively to suggest that he placed the marijuana underneath the front passenger seat.”), reh’g denied, trans. denied. Thus, we affirm his conviction of Class A misdemean- or possession of marijuana.

2. Application of Ind.Code § 35-48-U-15(a)

When a person is convicted of possession of marijuana, and a “motor vehicle was used in the commission of the offense,” the trial court

shall, in addition to any other order the court enters, order that the person’s:
(1) operator’s license be suspended;
(2) existing motor vehicle registrations be suspended; and
(3) ability to register motor vehicles be suspended;
by the bureau of motor vehicles for a period specified by the court of at least six (6) months but not more than two (2) years.

Ind.Code § 35-48-4-15(a). Adams argues he did not use a motor vehicle in the commission of the offense.

As the issue raised by Adams is one of statutory interpretation, our review is de novo. D.C. v. State, 935 N.E.2d 290, 293 (Ind.Ct.App.2010). Therefore, we give no deference to the trial court’s decision. Id.

In interpreting a statute, we first decide if the statute is ambiguous. Id. If it is not, we need not and do not interpret the statute, but apply its plain and clear meaning. Id.

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Related

Romell Colvin v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
Adams v. State
960 N.E.2d 793 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
946 N.E.2d 630, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 558, 2011 WL 1204836, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adams-v-state-indctapp-2011.