St. Luke's Hospital Kansas City v. Kerr

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that, when contraband is not in a defendant’s exclusive possession, the fact-finder may nonetheless infer intentional or knowing possession if sufficient independent facts and circumstances justify that inference
• concluding that ownership of vehicle was relevant in a sufficiency analysis for a conviction for possession of a controlled substance where a syringe of methamphetamine was found in plain view
• holding that jury is sole judge of credibility and weight of witnesses’ testimony and may draw multiple reasonable inferences from facts so long as each is supported by evidence presented at trial
• holding that affirmative links include, among other things, the contraband’s proximity to the defendant, the defendant’s possession of other contraband, incriminating statements by the defendant, and whether the drugs were found in an enclosed area
• explaining that “State’s burden does not require it to disprove every conceivable alternative to a defendant’s guilt”
• noting that “the State must prove that a defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).