Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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State v. McKnight, 239 N.C. App. 108 (Jan. 20, 2015)
In this drug trafficking case in which the defendant was prosecuted for possessing and transporting drugs in his car, the trial court erred by admitting evidence of drug contraband found in a home. The defendant picked up two boxes from suspected drug trafficker Travion Stokes, put them in his car, was stopped by officers and was charged with drug crimes in connection with controlled substances found in the boxes. The defendant claimed that he did not know what was in the boxes and that he was simply doing a favor for Stokes by bringing them to a home on Shellburne Drive. The police got a warrant for the home at Shellburne Drive and found drug contraband there. The State successfully admitted this evidence over the defendant’s objection at trial under Rule 404(b) to show the defendant’s knowledge that the boxes he was transporting contained controlled substances. Relying on State v. Moctezuma, 141 N.C. App. 90 (2000), the court held this was error, finding that no evidence connected the defendant to the contraband found in the Shellburne Drive home.