MAN'S DRUG CONVICTION OVERTURNED

ST. LOUIS -- Citing a lack of evidence to support a guilty verdict, a state appeals court has overturned a Sikeston, Mo., man's drug conviction and has ordered him discharged from prison.

In a unanimous decision Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District said a Cape Girardeau County jury erred in convicting Kevin Morris of possessing more than 35 grams of marijuana.

On Aug. 10, 1999, deputies with the Scott County Sheriff's Department searched an apartment in Sikeston. Morris answered the door. The officers found plastic bags of marijuana in the apartment.

However, Morris did not live in the apartment, which was leased by a former girlfriend. He said he was only there doing laundry.

The jury sentenced Morris to seven years in prison.

The appeals court said Morris' mere presence in the apartment was insufficient to prove he possessed or controlled the drugs, or even had knowledge drugs were present. The court noted that Morris was not found near where the drugs were kept, and that authorities couldn't establish that Morris was a frequent visitor there.