Moving Bales of Pot Within a Car Doesn’t Count as Possession

Two men who helped rearrange bales of marijuana in someone else’s car didn’t possess the drugs with intent to distribute them, a US appeals court said.

Possession of a controlled substance requires either knowing physical control over it or dominion and control over the place where it’s found, the opinion by Chief Judge Priscilla Richman said Wednesday. A person’s mere presence in the area where the drugs are found is insufficient, she said.

Statements by Victor Campos-Ayala and Martin Moncada-De La Cruz—that they helped to rearrange the bales and that they understood they were being charged with possession—also didn’t establish ...