Commonwealth v. Carroll
Commonwealth v. Carroll
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
The Commonwealth appeals by allowance a Superior Court panel’s order reversing appellee, George Carroll’s, conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. 35 P.A. § 780-113(a)(30). The sole issue presented on appeal is whether The Commonwealth presented sufficient evidence to establish constructive possession. We hold that this case is controlled by our recent decision in Commonwealth v. Macolino, 503 Pa. 201, 469 A.2d 132 (1983), and the evidence was sufficient. See also Commonwealth v. Gilchrist, 255 Pa.Superior Ct. 252, 386 A.2d 603 (1978). Thus, we vacate Superior Court’s order reversing Common Pleas and remand the case to it for consideration of appellee’s other issues.
On October 15, 1980, the Harrisburg Police Department, through a confidential informant, made a controlled buy of heroin in Room 21 of the Econo Motel in Harrisburg. The informant used marked bills and immediately turned the purchased contraband over to the police. The room was registered to Mr. and Mrs. George Carroll. The only occu
In Room 21, the officers found 680 milligrams of heroin, approximately seven street doses, in the pocket of a pair of woman’s jeans. The jeans were found in a laundry bag lying next to one of the beds. The occupants claimed that the jeans belonged to a friend of the daughter. The heroin was wrapped in a three year old rent receipt made out to appellee’s wife in her maiden name. The officers also found a twenty dollar bill used in the controlled buy in appellee’s pants and a hypodermic syringe and a bottle cap “cooker” underneath the plastic liner of the bathroom trash can.
On appeal, Superior Court reversed holding that the evidence presented was not sufficient to establish constructive possession because it did not show intent to control. Commonwealth v. Carroll, 334 Pa.Superior Ct. 198, 482 A.2d 1292 (1984).
When reviewing for sufficiency of the evidence, an appellate court may not substitute its judgment for the jury’s. Commonwealth v. Bachert, 499 Pa. 398, 453 A.2d 931 (1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1043, 103 S.Ct. 1440, 75 L.Ed.2d 797 (1983). It must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, here the Commonwealth, and draw all the reasonable inferences that evidence permits in favor of the verdict winner. Commonwealth v. Lovette, 498 Pa. 665, 450 A.2d 975 (1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1178, 103 S.Ct. 830, 74 L.Ed.2d 1025 (1983).
In our judgment, the instant case is controlled by Macolino, supra
The material facts in this case match those in Macolino. A husband and wife had joint control of a residence, contraband was hidden in the sleeping area and other items
Therefore, the order of Superior Court is vacated and the record remanded to Superior Court for consideration of appellee’s other claims.
. Heroin residue was found in the "cooker,” but the syringe was clean.
. Appellee’s wife was, however, undergoing methadone treatments at the time of the arrest.
. We note in passing that Superior Court did not cite Macolino in its opinion and apparently did not consider its application to these facts.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I dissent. As in Commonwealth v. Mudrick, 510 Pa. 305, 507 A.2d 1212 (1986), the majority errs through imprecise application of precise language. The majority states that “[i]n Macolino, we also held that constructive possession may be inferred if the contraband is located in an area under the joint exclusive control of the defendant and his spouse.” Slip opinion at 4 (emphasis added). This language from Commonwealth v. Macolino, 503 Pa. 201, 469 A.2d 132 (1983) does not mean, as the majority has it, that proof of joint exclusive control of an area is sufficient to prove constructive possession. It means only that the inference is not prohibited under the circumstances, not that the inference follows from those circumstances. As I noted in my dissenting opinion in Mudrick, we were careful in Macolino to weigh “other evidence sufficient to establish a link between” the defendant and the contraband along with the evidence of joint control. In the absence of such other evidence tending to prove intent to control the contraband, I cannot agree that the Commonwealth has met its burden of proving all material elements of the offense charged beyond
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. George CARROLL, Appellee
- Cited By
- 49 cases
- Status
- Published