State v. Weems

In State v. Weems, 31 N.C. App. 569, 230 S.E.2d 193 (1976), the Court held that "mere proximity to persons or locations with drugs about them is usually insufficient, in the absence of other incriminating circumstances, to convict for possession." Weems, 31 N.C. App. at 571, 230 S.E.2d at 194. The defendant in Weems was a passenger in the front seat of an automobile in which forty small foil packets containing a heroin mixture were found. There were two other people in the automobile. Although the Court stated that the "defendant was in close proximity to the heroin hidden in the front seat area," the Court also noted the following: There was no evidence defendant owned or controlled the car. There was no evidence he had been in the car at any time other than during the short period which elapsed between the time the officers saw the three men get in the car and the time they stopped and searched it. There was no evidence of any circumstances indicating that defendant knew of the presence of the drugs hidden in the car. Id. at 571, 230 S.E.2d at 194. The Court held that these facts were insufficient to establish constructive possession.