Opinion ID: 6109012
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Rogers's first point on appeal challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. He contends that the victims were not credible and that the prosecution presented no physical evidence of rape. The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, direct or circumstantial. Jeffries v. State , 2014 Ark. 239 , 3, 434 S.W.3d 889 , 893. We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, only considering that evidence which supports the verdict. Id. Testimony of a rape victim alone constitutes sufficient evidence to support a conviction. Hanlin v. State , 356 Ark. 516 , 525, 157 S.W.3d 181 , 187 (2004). At Rogers's trial, all three sisters of whom he was convicted of raping testified that Rogers had sexual intercourse with them when they were minors. Specifically, MaB testified that Rogers began touching her inappropriately when she was twelve years old and had sexual intercourse with her just days after her thirteenth birthday. MiB testified that Rogers had forced sexual contact with her when she was thirteen, and later had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions. Finally, LW testified  that she was fourteen years old when Rogers first raped her and that it occurred repeatedly. Here, each victim's testimony, in isolation, constitutes sufficient evidence to support the corresponding conviction. However, in this case, there was more evidence than just the victims' isolated testimony. Rogers exhibited similar behaviors in each rape. Indeed, all four girls were roughly the same age when Rogers began sexually abusing them. Two of the four girls testified that Rogers used a gold condom during intercourse. Two of the girls testified that Rogers drove them to a dead-end street to have intercourse in the back of his car. All four girls shared similar sexual encounters with Rogers in their family living room, and each girl testified that Rogers instructed them not to tell their mother what he had done. Three of the girls testified that Rogers threatened to kill himself if they told. Moreover, all three convictions are corroborated by eyewitness testimony. MaB testified that Rogers performed oral sex on her and MiB while they laid in the same bed. MiB testified to witnessing Rogers engage in penetrative intercourse with MaB. TB, the fourth sister, witnessed Rogers engaging in oral sex on MaB, having intercourse with MiB, and testified to watching a video of Rogers having intercourse with LW. Viewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and only considering evidence which supports the verdict, we hold that Rogers's conviction is supported by substantial evidence.