Opinion ID: 1933813
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Theory A.

Text: There was ample evidence that, while armed with a handgun, Steve Ross robbed Peppi Miller of his money. The prosecution's testimony, if credited, also established that Tony Roy participated in the planning of an illegal sale of a handgun to Miller. The question presented under the rubric of Theory A is whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to support a finding that Roy knowingly and intentionally aided and abetted the armed robbery. To establish aiding and abetting, the prosecution was obliged to prove that Roy in some sort associate[d] himself with the venture, that he participated in it as something that he wishe[d] to bring about, that he seek by his action to make it succeed. Brooks v. United States, 599 A.2d 1094, 1099 (D.C.1991) (quoting United States v. Peoni, 100 F.2d 401, 402 (2d Cir.1938) (Learned Hand, J.)). In order for one to be an accomplice [or an aider or abettor], he must be concerned in the commission of the specific crime with which the [principal] defendant is charged, he must be an associate in guilt of that crime, a participant in that offense as principal or accessory. Risinger v. United States, 236 F.2d 96, 99 (5th Cir.1956) (emphasis added). There was no direct evidence that Roy planned the robbery or, indeed, that he had any advance knowledge that a robbery would occur. Indeed, if Miller's account is credited, then Ross' decision to rob him appears to have been improvised at the last moment, and not planned in advance. According to Miller, Ross actually gave him the handgun. Although it may theoretically be possible that a man intent on robbing another would place the weapon (loaded or not) in his prospective victim's physical possession, we do not believe that an impartial jury could rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that this is what occurred here. If, as Miller's testimony suggests, Ross did not decide to rob Miller until after both men had arrived at the scene of the crime, then the theory that Roy helped to plan the robbery in advance cannot reasonably be reconciled with the record. According to the government, the jury could infer that Roy helped to plan the robbery on the basis of circumstantial evidence. We have considered all of the facts of record cited by the government in support of this proposition, however, and we conclude that each such fact is just as consistent with the hypothesis that Roy continued to contemplate a gun sale as it is with the alternative hypothesis that he participated in the planning or execution of the robbery. [9] We recognize that perspective matters, and that an inference that seems reasonable to one person may appear wildly speculative to a second, especially if it operates to the second's disadvantage. Nevertheless, we are satisfied that several of the government's arguments, objectively viewed, go well beyond reasonable inferences from the record and invite rank speculation. [10] Guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and a defendant may not be deprived of his liberty on the basis of such conjecture.