Wofford v. State

Drimus Wofford challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions of carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. We agree with Wofford that there is insufficient evidence upon which the jury could have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and we therefore reverse his convictions. On April 4, 2002, Labriska McKinney was driving a 1995 Mercedes automobile owned by her grandfather when she failed to stop at a red traffic signal. A police officer saw McKinney drive through the red light and stopped her. During the stop, the officer discovered that McKinney was only 15 years old and had no driver’s license. The officer also saw that two male passengers were in the car —Wofford sat in the front passenger seat and Sean Foster was in the back seat.

As the officer spoke to McKinney, who had gotten out of the vehicle, another officer arrived at the scene. The officers asked McKinney if they could search the car, and she consented to a search. The officers removed Wofford and Foster from the car and then searched it. They found a loaded handgun under the front passenger seat.