The crime of maintaining a dwelling has four elements. To be guilty, a person must: (1) knowingly (2) keep or maintain (3) a store, shop, warehouse, dwelling house, building, vehicle, boat, aircraft, or other place (4) (a) being resorted to by persons unlawfully using controlled substances or (b) being used for unlawfully keeping or selling controlled substances. In my last post on this crime, I focused on Element (2). In this post, I’ll focus on another area of confusion regarding this offense: Element (4)(b). While Element (2) requires that the defendant keep or maintain the property, Element (4)(b) requires that the property be used for unlawfully keeping or selling controlled substances. The statute’s use of the word “keep” in Element (2) and the related term “keeping” in Element (4)(b) has created some confusion, particularly because the terms mean different things in each element. As used in Element (2) the term “keep” refers to the defendant’s control and authority over the premises, vehicle, etc. In Element (4)(b), however, the word “keeping” refers to possession of controlled substances on or in the property. As used in Element (4)(b), the term “keeping” “denotes not just possession, but possession that occurs over a duration of time.” State v. Dickerson, 152 N.C. App. 714, 716 (2002) (quoting State v. Mitchell, 336 N.C. 22, 32-33 (1994)). Thus, one isolated instance of possession on the property is insufficient evidence that the property is used for keeping controlled substances. Compare State v. Craven, ___ N.C. App. ___, 696 S.E.2d [...]
Faculty Coordinators
