State v. Rowell

¶1 This appeal follows a conviction for possession of methamphetamine. The police stopped Benjamin Rowell because he was riding his bicycle without lights on a sidewalk at night. He says the lights were not required. We read RCW 46.61.780 as requiring lights. Mr. Rowell also argues that the State must prove that he knew the drugs were in his backpack. The statute (RCW 69-.50.401(1)) does not require knowledge and so the State needed to prove only possession. The court, then, properly shifted the burden to Mr. Rowell to show that the possession here was unwitting. We therefore affirm his…