State of Iowa v. Robert Dean Ahart, 16-0207

Police executed a search of Robert Ahart’s Des Moines home and found large quantities of methamphetamine, drug ledgers, cash, and drug paraphernalia.
A small .25 caliber pistol (unloaded, broken firing pin, scratched serial number) was discovered wrapped inside a white cloth knee brace in a cluttered living-room area about 10–15 yards from the kitchen.
Paperwork bearing Ahart’s name was found “in the same vicinity” as the wrapped firearm; other visitors to the residence had been observed by surveillance.
Ahart was convicted on multiple drug and related counts; jury special interrogatories found he was in “immediate possession or control of a firearm” during several offenses.
The district court applied the Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(e) firearm enhancement, doubling several sentences and producing an aggregate term not to exceed 50 years.
The court of appeals reviewed whether substantial evidence supported the jury’s findings that Ahart had knowledge of the firearm’s existence and location (a requirement for immediate control/constructive possession) and reversed the enhancement for resentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether substantial evidence supported firearm enhancement under Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(e) (immediate possession or control during drug offense)	State: firearm was found near meth residue and paperwork with Ahart’s name; Ahart ran a drug operation from the house so knowledge/inference of control is reasonable	Ahart: firearm was concealed inside a knee brace, not in plain view; he did not have exclusive control of the residence and state offered no incriminating statements, actions, or fingerprints proving knowledge	Reversed in part: evidence insufficient to prove Ahart knew of the firearm’s existence/location; enhancement removed and case remanded for resentencing without enhancement

State v. Reed, 875 N.W.2d 693 (Iowa 2016) (knowledge of firearm not inferable from mere proximity when nonexclusive control exists)
State v. Draper, 457 N.W.2d 606 (Iowa 1990) (standard for upholding jury findings on appeal)
State v. Henderson, 696 N.W.2d 5 (Iowa 2005) (reasonable-doubt substantial-evidence standard)
State v. Webb, 648 N.W.2d 72 (Iowa 2002) (constructive-possession factors and need to show incriminating circumstances beyond mere proximity)
State v. Neitzel, 801 N.W.2d 612 (Iowa Ct. App. 2011) (consideration of all record evidence in sufficiency review)
State v. McDowell, 622 N.W.2d 305 (Iowa 2001) (trial courts must instruct that knowledge of firearm’s existence/location is an element of immediate possession/control)
State v. Eickelberg, 574 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 1997) (transforming entire home into drug operation may support enhancement where firearm was not concealed)
State v. Kern, 831 N.W.2d 149 (Iowa 2013) (constructive possession requires knowledge and authority to control)
State v. Cashen, 666 N.W.2d 566 (Iowa 2003) (physical proximity alone insufficient for control)
State v. Atkinson, 620 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 2000) (proximity to contraband insufficient for constructive possession)
State v. Reeves, 209 N.W.2d 18 (Iowa 1973) (examples of incriminating circumstances supporting constructive possession)
State v. Nickens, 644 N.W.2d 38 (Iowa Ct. App. 2002) (firearm not in plain view and chaotic surroundings undermine inference of knowledge)