US-CA10 · jury_instructions
10th Cir. Crim. Pattern Jury Instr. 1.31
ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE POSSESSION
A person who, although not in actual possession, knowingly
has the power and intent at a given time to exercise dominion or
control over an object, either directly or through another person or
persons, is then in constructive possession of it.
[More than one person can be in possession of an object if each
knows of its presence and has the power and intent to control it.]
[In the situation where the object is found in a place (such as
a room or car) occupied by more than one person, you may not infer
power and intent to exercise control over the object based solely on
joint occupancy. Mere control over the place in which the object is
found is not sufficient to establish constructive possession.
Instead, in this situation, the government must prove some
connection between the particular defendant and the object
demonstrating the power and intent to exercise control over the
object.]
Provenance
- Source
- ca10.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-19
- Edition
- 2026-08-19
- Content hash
abc159f393e2faaa6497b6fadab962ad9dfa3fd7886425c81dd4ccc019a8cee6
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