Crone, J.
Reginald Webster appeals his conviction for class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license … He raises two issues for our review, one of which we find dispositive: namely, he asserts that the trial court clearly erred in denying his Indiana Trial Rule 41(B) motion for involuntary dismissal. …
On March 17, 2003, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department received an anonymous tip that three black males and one white female were selling drugs on the front porch of the residence located at 1554 East Naomi Street in Indianapolis. … Upon arrival, the officers observed one black male and one white male sitting on a couch located on the porch. … Officer Hemphill then lifted up the couch and found a loaded .357 Magnum handgun directly under the front edge of the couch where Webster had been sitting and where he had reached. Webster did not present the officers with a permit or a license to carry a handgun.
The State charged Webster with class A misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license. During the bench trial, Webster objected to the admission of and moved to suppress evidence of the handgun … The trial court denied the motion and admitted the evidence. Thereafter, at the close of the State’s evidence, Webster moved for involuntary dismissal pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 41(B). … The trial court denied the motion and found Webster guilty as charged. …
….
… In a criminal action, a defendant’s Trial Rule 41(B) motion is essentially a test of the sufficiency of the State’s evidence. … Our review of the denial of a motion for involuntary dismissal is limited to the evidence presented by the State during its case-in-chief. Nichols v. State, 31 N.E.3d 1038, 1041 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).
… Thus, the essential elements comprising the offense are that: (1) Webster (2) possessed (3) a handgun (4) in a place that was not his dwelling, property, or fixed place of business. See Armstrong v. State, 742 N.E.2d 972, 978 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001) (noting essential elements of carrying handgun without a license). …
At the close of the State’s evidence, Webster moved for involuntary dismissal arguing that the State failed to prove that he possessed the handgun in a place other than his dwelling, property, or fixed place of business. … We agree.
In response to Webster’s motion for involuntary dismissal, the State … maintained, and the trial court mistakenly agreed, that it was Webster’s burden to prove that 1554 East Naomi Street was his dwelling, property, or fixed place of business … This was clear error. …
Reversed.
Kirsch, J., and May, J., concur.