I was just a passenger in the car with secret compartments filled with pounds of drugs. Am I Guilty?

This appeal stemmed from two individuals’ cross-country car trip. Inside the car were secret compartments containing bundles of methamphetamine. But to the casual observer, the car looked like any other car.

The driver apparently knew about the secret compartments of methamphetamine, but did the passenger? It’s possible, but there was no evidence that

• the driver had told the passenger about the methamphetamine or
• the passenger had detected the secret compartments.

Without such evidence, could a reasonable jury find the passenger guilty of crimes that required her knowledge of the drugs? We answer no.

Ms. Garcia-Rodriguez rode across the country in a car containing roughly 29 pounds of methamphetamine. “But mere presence, as a passenger, in a car found to be carrying drugs is insufficient to implicate the passenger in the conspiracy.” United States v. Jones, 44 F.3d 860, 865 (10th Cir. 1995). The issue here is whether any other proof existed on Ms. Garcia-Rodriguez’s knowledge of the methamphetamine.

Read full case at United States v. Rodriguez, No. 22-6194, 6 (10th Cir. Feb. 21, 2024), https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-rodriguez-3183