State Missouri v. Richard Charles Conti

On this appeal from conviction and imposition of a two year sentence for possession of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (L.S.D.), a Schedule I controlled substance, defendant claims error (1) in admitting the L.S.D. in evidence because it was obtained by a constitutionally impermissible warrantless search, and (2) in giving Instruction No. 5, the state's verdict director, because it was unsupported by any evidence that defendant had ""actual or constructive possession"" of the L.S.D. or that defendant ""was aware of the character"" of the L.S.D. and ""intentionally and knowingly had it in his possession."" The facts upon which defendant's first point turns are gleaned primarily from evidence adduced at a pre-trial hearing held on a motion to suppress filed by defendant. No detail will be spared in setting this evidence forth as judicial determination of constitutionally proscribed ""unreasonable searches and seizures"" necessarily turns on the ""concrete factual context of the individual case"". Sibron v. State of New York, 392 U.S. 40, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 1901, 20 L.Ed. 917 (1968).