State v. McClain, 153 N.E.3d 854

On Oct. 26, 2018, police stopped a red taxi in Findlay, Ohio. McClain rode in the right rear seat directly behind the front passenger seat.
The taxi driver had earlier searched the vehicle while looking for a lost phone and denied seeing contraband then.
The driver consented to a later search after the traffic stop; officers found a plastic bag in the map pocket on the back of the front passenger seat containing 15.39 grams of cocaine.
An officer testified he observed McClain lean forward toward the map pocket and described the motion as a furtive movement; McClain was the only person occupying that rear seat at the time of the stop.
McClain was indicted for and convicted by jury of possession of cocaine (third-degree felony); he appealed, arguing insufficiency and manifest-weight errors. The trial court’s judgment of conviction was affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to prove possession	State: Circumstantial evidence (proximity of drugs to McClain, immediate accessibility, furtive movement, driver’s log showing McClain was the occupant) supports constructive possession	McClain: Other passengers could have placed the drugs; no one saw him put item in pocket; no fingerprint/DNA or link to a drug house	Court: Evidence (location, accessibility, furtive movement, limited other candidates) sufficient to permit rational jury to find constructive possession; conviction supported by sufficient evidence
Manifest weight of the evidence	State: Jury reasonably inferred dominion and control from the same circumstantial evidence	McClain: Repeats sufficiency arguments; urges jury lost its way	Court: Weight of evidence did not clearly favor acquittal; jury verdict was not a manifest miscarriage of justice; conviction affirmed

State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (distinguishes sufficiency and manifest-weight standards)
State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (Ohio 1991) (standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Smith, 80 Ohio St.3d 89 (Ohio 1997) (superseding notes regarding Jenks)
State v. DeHass, 10 Ohio St.2d 230 (Ohio 1967) (deference to trier of fact on credibility)
State v. Hunter, 131 Ohio St.3d 67 (Ohio 2011) (high threshold for reversing on manifest weight)
State v. Wolery, 46 Ohio St.2d 316 (Ohio 1976) (actual vs. constructive possession principles)
State v. Hankerson, 70 Ohio St.2d 87 (Ohio 1982) (constructive possession requires consciousness of presence)
State v. Haynes, 25 Ohio St.2d 264 (Ohio 1971) (possession precedents)
State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172 (Ohio Ct. App.) (weighing evidence and reasonable inferences)
State v. Palmer, 80 Ohio St.3d 543 (Ohio 1997) (appellate review of inferences)
United States v. Nelson, 419 F.2d 1237 (9th Cir. 1969) (circumstantial and direct evidence have similar probative value)