Mere Constructive Possession of Gun Can Lead to Sentence Boost

A person sleeping in the back seat of a car when the driver pulled over, bailed out, and ran away from the police, was in constructive possession of the gun hidden under the front passenger seat, the Eighth Circuit said Thursday.

In Iowa, being armed “does not require actually carrying the firearm,” the opinion by Judge David R. Stras said, adding that the possession in this case could be used to boost the sleeping passenger’s sentence.

After the driver ran off, Catrell Green struggled for three minutes before the officers were able to pull him out of the car, which ...