Cephus Channing Terry a/k/a Cephus C. Terry a/k/a Cephus Terry v. State of Mississippi, 324 So.3d 753

On August 2, 2017, officers executed a search warrant on an apartment in Philadelphia, MS; they entered after announcing the warrant and found drugs, drug paraphernalia, and two firearms in plain view in a common room.
Deputy Sciple testified Terry said he had lived in the apartment about a year; Terry and the apartment resident (Kiara Baxstrum) both testified Terry did not live there and he was there to pick up the children.
Forensics identified cocaine (≈26.9 g), two dosage units of methamphetamine, 29 dosage units of Tramadol, and other substances; two pistols were recovered in the same room as the drugs.
Terry stipulated to a prior felony; he was tried, convicted on five counts (drug and felon-in-possession charges) and sentenced as a habitual offender to 46 years.
The Court of Appeals affirmed; the Mississippi Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider sufficiency of the evidence on constructive possession and a jury-instruction challenge.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Terry)	Held
Sufficiency: constructive possession of drugs and firearms	Terry lived in the apartment, the contraband was in plain view, he was the only adult and thus exercised dominion/control	Terry did not live there, Baxstrum owned the items, proximity alone (being present) is insufficient to prove control or knowledge	Affirmed: viewing evidence in State's favor, plain view plus testimony that Terry lived there and was in control supported constructive possession verdict
Jury instructions on constructive possession (need for "other incriminating circumstances")	Instructions, read together, informed jury that awareness and conscious control are required; removal of D-9 was by agreement	Trial court erred by not instructing explicitly that proximity alone is insufficient and that other incriminating circumstances must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt	Procedurally barred on appeal (objection preserved only on presumption theory, not proximity); court also held instructions adequately required more than mere proximity

Haynes v. State, 250 So. 3d 1241 (Miss. 2018) (elements of constructive possession: awareness of presence/character and intentional, conscious possession; proximity alone is ordinarily insufficient)
Dixon v. State, 953 So. 2d 1108 (Miss. 2007) (occupancy/ownership of premises creates a presumption of control; where non-owner, additional incriminating facts are required)
Hudson v. State, 30 So. 3d 1199 (Miss. 2010) (proximity by itself is not adequate; defendant must be tied to contraband by dominion/control or participation)
Powell v. State, 355 So. 2d 1378 (Miss. 1978) (presumption that one in possession of premises constructively possesses contraband found there; presumption is rebuttable)
Ferrell v. State, 649 So. 2d 831 (Miss. 1995) (distinguishes plain‑view contraband from "cloaked" contraband and limits inferences from mere proximity)
McClain v. State, 625 So. 2d 774 (Miss. 1993) (weight and credibility of evidence are for the jury)
Kerns v. State, 923 So. 2d 196 (Miss. 2005) (when contraband is on premises not owned by defendant, physical proximity requires additional evidence of conscious control)
Mack v. State, 481 So. 2d 793 (Miss. 1985) (defendant entitled to circumstantial‑evidence instruction where case lacks direct proof; jury must exclude reasonable hypotheses of innocence)