Criminal Practice – Concealed Weapon – Concealment – 2 Pairs of Pants – Struggle in Vines

At defendant’s trial for carrying a concealed weapon, the state presented evidence that (1) defendant fled from police on foot, (2) defendant was wearing a pair of khaki pants over a pair of green sweatpants, and (3) the pursuing officer believed the pistol was underneath the khaki pants in the front pocket of defendant’s sweatpants. The state also presented evidence that the officer did not see the pistol until he was struggling with defendant, who had become entangled in vines and was “grabbing the vines above him” in an effort to escape. This evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the state, is sufficient to persuade a reasonable juror to accept that the pistol only became visible due to defendant’s struggle to escape the brush, and that the pistol was otherwise hidden from the observation of persons who were in full view of the defendant and near enough to him to see it if it were not concealed.

We find no error in defendant’s conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.

State v. Jones (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-101-23, 5 pp.) (Allegra Collins, J.) Appealed from Mecklenburg County Superior Court (Hugh Lewis, J.) Kerry Boehm for the state; Katy Dickinson-Schultz for defendant. North Carolina Court of Appeals (unpublished)