United States v. Hunte
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
196 F.3d 687 (1999)
Cheryl Hunte (defendant) accompanied her boyfriend Joseph Richards, a known drug dealer, and others on a trip to transport marijuana from Arizona to New York. At the pickup location, Hunte watched television in another room while the marijuana was weighed and sampled, but she later closed the blinds and helped roll some of the marijuana into a joint for the group to smoke, and she was driving one of the vehicles when police stopped it and found the drugs. Hunte received no financial benefit from the trip, and her three co-defendants pleaded guilty while she went to trial and was convicted; she appealed, arguing insufficient evidence supported her conviction.
Whether a defendant who never directly handled drug bundles, but who knew of the drugs, helped prepare some for personal use, and drove a vehicle involved in transporting them, had constructive possession sufficient to support a drug distribution conviction.