Williams v. State

I agree that our outcome today is required by the precedent that is well explained in the court’s opinion. Courts and legislatures around the country take different positions on this issue. See Emile F. Short, Annotation, Conviction of possession of illicit drugs found in automobile of which defendant was not sole occupant, 57 A.L.R.3d 1319 (1974). If I were writing on a clean slate, I would be inclined to believe that a jury should be authorized to return a guilty verdict on a drug charge where the defendant is an operator of a motor vehicle and has actual knowledge that the vehicle contains…