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SLIP OPINION

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AG number: 8005	Style: Jacobs vs. State
Jurisdiction: 3rd DCA	Date issued: July 28, 1999

AG HEADNOTE
Constructive possession of a firearm
The state submitted sufficient evidence to show that a defendant had constructive possession of a firearm that was found in a vehicle he had been driving earlier, the 3rd DCA held.
After pursuing a speeding vehicle, officers saw the driver and another man bail out when the vehicle stopped in a residential area. The officers eventually apprehended the driver, and then found a handgun partially hidden under the driver's seat and the defendant's driver's license on the driver's seat. At trial, the owner of the vehicle testified that the firearm did not belong to her. The defendant was convicted of firearm possession and the DCA affirmed, finding that the state presented sufficient evidence of constructive possession.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES
TO FILE REHEARING MOTION
AND, IF FILED, DISPOSED OF.

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
THIRD DISTRICT
JULY TERM, A.D. 1999

SABASTIAN JACOBS, **

Appellant, ** CASE NO. 98-1965

vs. ** LOWER
TRIBUNAL NO. 97-10587
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, **

Appellee. **

Opinion filed July 28, 1999.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Robert M. Pineiro, Judge.

Cain & Snihur and May L. Cain, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Roberta G. Mandel, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before JORGENSON, LEVY, and FLETCHER, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The defendant, Sabastian Jacobs, appeals his conviction and sentence for the unlawful possession of a firearm by a violent career criminal. We affirm.
One evening two police officers observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. Both officers pursued the vehicle until it stopped near a residential area; two occupants bailed out of the vehicle and fled. Both officers saw the driver's face. A search for the suspects led to an apartment where its resident gave officers permission to search. Inside, police found the defendant who was identified by both of the original pursuing officers as the driver. In the vehicle, the officers found a handgun partially hidden under the driver's seat and the defendant's driver's license on the driver's seat.
In order to establish that the defendant had constructive possession of the firearm the state must show that the defendant knew of its presence, knew of its illicit nature, and had or shared dominion and control over it. See Brown v. State, 428 So. 2d 250, 252 (Fla. 1983); Torres v. State, 520 So. 2d 78, 79-80 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). Since the location where the firearm was found was in joint, rather than exclusive, possession of the defendant, then knowledge of the firearm's presence and the defendant's ability to control it will not be inferred but must be established by independent proof. Id.
The owner of the vehicle testified that the firearm did not belong to her. Two police officers positively identified the defendant as the driver of the vehicle and found the defendant's driver's license on the driver's seat. The firearm was located to the far left of the driver's seat near the driver's door and away from the reach of the passenger. The gun was positioned such that the back half of the weapon was "sticking out" in plain view. Finally, after police engaged the vehicle driven by the defendant, he fled and attempted to evade detection. Based on the totality of these facts, we hold that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that the defendant exercised constructive possession of the firearm. See Wilcox v. State, 522 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988).
Affirmed.