Westbrooks v. State

Mark A. Westbrooks appeals his convictions for manslaughter (a lesser-included of felony murder), two counts of armed robbery, and four counts of attempted armed robbery. On appeal, Westbrooks claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal because the State did not rebut his hypothesis of innocence that he was not involved in the robbery. We affirm his convictions for the reasons expressed below.

I. Facts

At trial, the State proceeded on the theory that on November 11, 2009, West-brooks and two other men drove to the Carver City area of Tampa to rob a group of…