Defendant was convicted at trial for possessing meth. He and his wife rented a storage unit. Police got a search warrant and found within a dresser drawer pot seeds/stems, paraphernalia, and baggies. One of those bags had residue that tested positive for meth. Defendant appeals claiming the state did not have enough evidence to prove knowing possession of the empty bag with residue located in a storage unit within a dresser drawer containing other items that were not his.
Defendant’s appeal was denied. The below cited case is a good read regarding the standard of review that appeals courts use. The decision ends with “in reviewing for sufficiency of the evidence, we look at the totality of the evidence and circumstances tending to prove guilt together with all reasonable inferences that support that find. We ignore contrary evidence and inferences.” (emphasis added)
State v. Faler, SD34819, decided January 29, 2018