## Facts

- Minneapolis police executed a search warrant at Stanley N. Royster’s residence after complaints of drug sales and a controlled buy.
- Officers found Royster inside the home and recovered cash and pre-recorded buy money from his person.
- In Royster’s bedroom, police found additional pre-recorded buy money, crack cocaine in a boot, and a fully loaded .22 revolver under the mattress about three feet from the boot.
- After arrest, Royster admitted he sold cocaine from his home and said his father gave him the revolver for protection.
- Royster was charged with controlled-substance offenses, including committing the offenses “while in possession of a firearm” under Minn. Stat. § 609.11, subd. 5, which triggers a three-year mandatory minimum for listed predicate felonies under subd. 9.
- Royster waived a jury trial; the case was submitted on stipulated facts.
- The district court found Royster guilty of third- and fifth-degree controlled-substance crimes while in possession of a firearm and imposed the three-year mandatory minimum, concluding the statute covered constructive possession based on the firearm’s reasonable proximity to the drugs.
- The court of appeals affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether “had in possession a firearm” in Minn. Stat. § 609.11, subd. 5, includes constructive possession, permitting the mandatory minimum where the firearm is nearby but not carried or displayed during the predicate felony.
2. Whether the proximity of a loaded firearm under a mattress a few feet from drugs in the defendant’s bedroom establishes constructive possession for purposes of § 609.11.

## Decision

- The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed.
- The court held that “had in possession a firearm” in § 609.11, subd. 5, includes constructive as well as actual possession.
- The court concluded Royster constructively possessed the firearm because it was in reasonable proximity to the drugs during the predicate controlled-substance offenses.
- The three-year mandatory minimum sentence under § 609.11, subds. 5 and 9, was properly imposed.

## Legal Principles

- Minn. Stat. § 609.11, subd. 5, applies when a defendant has constructive possession of a firearm while committing a predicate felony; actual carrying, brandishing, or use is not required.
- Constructive possession may be shown by the defendant’s dominion or control over the location where the firearm is found, together with a sufficient connection between the firearm and the felony, including close physical proximity to contraband.
- Statutory language using “possession” will not be judicially narrowed to an active “use” requirement absent textual support, particularly where legislative changes indicate a shift from use-based to possession-based coverage.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a three-year mandatory minimum sentence for drug felonies where the defendant kept a loaded gun readily accessible in the same bedroom as the drugs, holding that § 609.11’s “possession” requirement includes constructive possession based on reasonable proximity and control over the premises.


State v. Royster, 590 N.W.2d 82 (Minn. 1999)