## Facts

- An officer stopped a vehicle after recognizing it as one typically driven by a person believed to have outstanding warrants.
- Kendrick Wilkins was the sole occupant; the officer confirmed outstanding warrants for Wilkins and arrested him.
- In a search incident to arrest, the officer found a plastic bag containing three smaller “tie-off” bags of marijuana in Wilkins’s pocket.
- Laboratory testing confirmed a total of 1.89 grams of marijuana.
- The officer also found $1,264 in cash (mostly $20 bills).
- Wilkins testified the cash was primarily bond money from his mother plus funds from a cashed check, and that he carried cash because he was “on the run.”
- Wilkins testified he bought the marijuana for personal use and described “nickel” and “dime” bags as common personal-use packaging.
- The State presented no evidence of scales, extra packaging materials, customer lists, observed transactions, or other distribution-related conduct.
- A jury convicted Wilkins of felony possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver; he moved to dismiss for insufficient evidence of intent.

## Issues

1. Whether the State presented substantial evidence that Wilkins possessed marijuana with intent to sell or deliver, so that the trial court properly denied his motion to dismiss the felony charge.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals held the evidence was insufficient to prove intent to sell or deliver.
- The court concluded the evidence supported only simple possession.
- The court vacated the felony sentence and remanded for resentencing on the lesser offense of simple possession.

## Legal Principles

- On a motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence, courts view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and determine whether substantial evidence supports each element.
- For possession with intent to sell or deliver, the State must prove possession and intent to sell or deliver; intent may be inferred from circumstances but cannot rest on speculation.
- A small quantity of drugs consistent with personal use, minor packaging evidence, and cash with a plausible non-drug explanation—without additional indicia of distribution—may be insufficient as a matter of law to establish intent to sell or deliver.

## Conclusion

The court ruled that 1.89 grams of marijuana packaged in three small bags and accompanied by cash, absent other evidence of drug distribution, did not allow a reasonable inference of intent to sell or deliver, requiring dismissal of the felony theory and resentencing for simple possession.


State v. Wilkins, 703 S.E.2d 807 (N.C. Ct. App. 2010)