Micalosa Bernard McDaniel v. State, 05-14-00887-CR

Appellant Micalosa Bernard McDaniel was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon; appeal from Dallas County Criminal District Court No. 3.
Police stopped a vehicle with five occupants; a firearm was found under the backseat cushion on the same side where McDaniel was sitting.
The backseat cushion was removable; officers observed McDaniel moving and bending as if concealing something during the stop.
Drugs were recovered from McDaniel’s socks; jail phone calls recorded McDaniel making incriminating statements about the gun and urging another occupant to claim it.
McDaniel stipulated to a prior felony conviction (possession of a controlled substance); the State read the indictment language describing the prior offense over his objection.
The court affirmed the conviction, rejecting McDaniel’s challenges to sufficiency of the evidence and to the reading of the prior-offense description.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence that McDaniel knowingly possessed the firearm	State: Affirmative links (gun under seat where he sat, removable cushion, furtive movements, incriminating jail calls) establish more than a fortuitous connection	McDaniel: He didn’t own or drive the car; multiple occupants; drugs on his person could explain furtive movements	Affirmed — evidence legally sufficient under Jackson standard and possession-case precedents
Reading of indictment language describing prior felony after stipulation	State: Article 36.01 requires the indictment be read; judgment and stipulation described the prior as possession of a controlled substance	McDaniel: Reading the prior offense risked unfair prejudice because it matched current drug charges and he had stipulated to the conviction	Affirmed — any error waived by McDaniel’s affirmative “no objection” to the judgment and stipulation

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (legal sufficiency standard for criminal convictions)
Laster v. State, 275 S.W.3d 512 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009) (deference to factfinder in sufficiency review)
Young v. State, 752 S.W.2d 137 (possession-by-felon sufficiency analyzed like drug-possession cases)
Cude v. State, 716 S.W.2d 46 (elements for possession: care/control, consciousness of connection, knowingly/intentional)
Brown v. State, 911 S.W.2d 744 (connection must be more than fortuitous)
Bates v. State, 155 S.W.3d 212 (factors establishing affirmative links to contraband)
Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172 (prejudice from prior-offense evidence vs. stipulation)
Tamez v. State, 11 S.W.3d 198 (ruling on admissibility of prior-conviction evidence vs stipulation)
McIlroy v. State, 188 S.W.3d 789 (distinguishing cases where stipulation sought to prevent disclosure of prior-offense details)
Thomas v. State, 408 S.W.3d 877 (holding that a contemporaneous “no objection” can waive earlier-preserved error)