State v. Sheffield

821 S.W.2d 859, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 1872, 1991 WL 260428
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 12, 1991
DocketNo. 17084
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 821 S.W.2d 859 (State v. Sheffield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Sheffield, 821 S.W.2d 859, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 1872, 1991 WL 260428 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

FLANIGAN, Chief Judge.

A jury found defendant Michael Sheffield guilty of possessing more than 35 grams of marijuana, § 195.020,1 and he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Defendant appeals. In general, defendant contends that the trial court erred: (1) in ruling that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict; (2) in denying defendant’s motion to suppress evidence which challenged the validity of a search warrant; (3) in refusing to give Instruction A requested by defendant; and (4) in denying defendant’s motion to remand for a preliminary hearing. For the reasons which follow, this court holds that point 1 and point 2 have no merit, that point 3 has not been preserved for appellate review, and no plain error is shown, and that point 4 was waived.

Defendant’s first point is that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict and that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal filed at the close of all the evidence.

Defendant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence requires this court to determine whether there was sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror might have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Dulany, 781 S.W.2d 52, 55[3] (Mo. banc 1989). We accept as true all of the evidence favorable to the state, including all favorable inferences drawn from the evidence, and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. Id. This court considers any portions of defendant’s evidence which would support a finding of guilty “because defendant, by putting on evidence, takes the chance of aiding the State’s case.” State v. Johnson, 447 S.W.2d 285, 287[2] (Mo.1969).

To sustain a conviction for possession of a controlled substance under § 195.-020, the state must prove that the defendant knowingly and intentionally possessed the proscribed substance. To meet this burden, conscious, intentional possession, either actual or constructive, must be established. The state must also show that the defendant was aware of the presence and nature of the substances in question. Both possession and knowledge may be proved by circumstantial evidence. If actual possession has not been shown, “constructive possession will suffice when other facts buttress an inference of defendant’s knowledge of the presence of the controlled substance.” (Citing authorities.)

State v. Barber, 635 S.W.2d 342, 343 (Mo.1982).

A person may be deemed to have possession of the substance found on the premises even when he does not have exclusive control of the premises, because there may be joint control, with the same consequences as if there were exclusive control. If the control is joint, however, there must be some further evidence or admission connecting the defendant with the substance. State v. Wiley, 522 S.W.2d 281, 292[21] (Mo. banc 1975). See also State v. Pacchetti, 729 S.W.2d 621, 628[7] (Mo.App.1987).

In general the information charged that the defendant, on December 16, 1987, in Greene County, knowingly possessed more than 35 grams of marijuana, a controlled substance, in violation of § 195.020. The state’s evidence showed that on that date several officers of the Springfield Police Department, including Dennis Lewis, Robert Greer and Steve Hamilton, executed a search warrant at defendant’s residence located at 1408 North Texas in Springfield. Defendant lived there with Lennita Amlin, and they occupied the same bedroom. When the officers arrived, defendant was not at home. The warrant was read to Ms. Amlin and the house was searched.

In the bedroom was a bed with a wooden headboard. Inside the headboard were some metal lapel pins bearing the logo of [861]*861the Greene County Sheriffs Department. Defendant was a reserve deputy of the Greene County Sheriffs Department and had been for five years. A plastic bag containing marijuana was found in the headboard. A card with defendant’s photograph identifying him as a deputy was found on the headboard.

Another plastic bag containing marijuana was underneath the bed. Other items were found in the bedroom and were identified as drug paraphernalia by the officers. They included a paper roller, two plastic baggies containing marijuana, clear plastic bags, a roach clip, a marijuana pipe, and a cigarette case containing marijuana. Some of the paraphernalia was found in a dresser which contained a man's clothing.

A search of the bedroom closet revealed several pieces of men’s clothing hanging on a rack, including defendant’s deputy uniform. On a shelf above the clothing, Hamilton found 443 grams, or 15.5 ounces, of marijuana wrapped in a plastic bag, state’s Exhibit 1.

About 20 minutes after the search began, defendant arrived at the residence in a van. He had been to a bowling alley. Defendant unlocked the front door and entered the house. He was placed under arrest by the officers. Officer Lewis testified that the clothes which defendant was wearing “reeked of the smell of burned marijuana.” After defendant was arrested, officer Lewis went to defendant’s van. Lewis testified that the van had the odor of marijuana.

Officer Greer conducted a "pat down search” of defendant. In defendant’s vest pocket was a metal cigarette case, state's Exhibit 4, which contained two marijuana cigarettes which had been partially smoked.

Dwight Bebee, a drug chemist, identified several of the bags and baggies taken from the house, identified their contents as marijuana, and gave their respective weights in grams.

Lennita Amlin, a defense witness, testified that she owned the marijuana which was taken from the bedroom and that it was kept hidden from defendant. She testified that the marijuana in Exhibit 1 had been there only 24 hours, that a friend had brought it to her and that she did not tell defendant the friend had done so. She admitted that she told the officers at the time of the search that the marijuana at the house was defendant’s.

Testifying for himself, defendant said he did not know that Ms. Amlin had marijuana in the house. He said the first time he saw the sacks of marijuana was when they were brought into court. He admitted having the metal cigarette case in his vest pocket but claimed that he found it in the snow outside the bowling alley and that he had picked it up and put it in his pocket and forgotten it.

In support of his first point, defendant points to the testimony of Ms. Amlin that she owned the marijuana, that the bag containing more than 15 ounces of marijuana had been there only 24 hours and that she had kept it hidden from him. Defendant also points to his own testimony that he did not know the marijuana was there. Defendant’s argument overlooks the principle that this court accepts as true all the evidence favorable to the state and disregards contrary evidence.

Marijuana in considerable quantities, the total clearly exceeding 35 grams, was found in various portions of defendant’s bedroom where, inferentially, he had slept the night before. Items of drug paraphernalia were found there. Marijuana was found on his person. His clothing and his van bore the odor of marijuana.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
821 S.W.2d 859, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 1872, 1991 WL 260428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sheffield-moctapp-1991.