Constructive possession: beware of what your passengers have with them.

Even if you don't carry anything illegal, its possible your passengers can still give you problems in your car.

Constructive possession

Even if you don't carry anything illegal, there are some circumstances in which the behavior of your passengers may lead to your being questioned or detained for what your passengers leave in your car without your knowledge. A concept called constructive possession may allow law enforcement to charge you with the possession of what is found in your car, even if you aren't aware it was in your car without your knowledge..

A hypothetical of this of this phenomenon is a driver who owns a vehicle and is giving a ride to numerous people. When this same vehicle is stopped by law enforcement, the passengers, who don't want to be searched drop whatever they have in the vehicle in places like the back seat, doing it without the knowledge of the driver or law enforcement. If and when these same materials are discovered by law enforcement, and everyone in the vehicle denies knowledge and ownership of these materials, law enforcement may still be able to charge the owner or the operator of the vehicle. What allows law enforcement to do this is called "constructive possession"

While constructive possession is not a new concept to the law, it applies in Maine to vehicles and can lead to serious consequences.