Opinion ID: 3153229
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: The petitioner argues that the circuit court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal because the evidence at trial was insufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdicts. The State responds that the evidence was more than sufficient to convict the petitioner of all three charges. In addition to the general standards of review set forth above, this Court engages in the following analysis when reviewing sufficiency of the evidence claims: 10 The function of an appellate court when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, is sufficient to convince a reasonable person of the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Syl. Pt. 1, State v. Guthrie, 194 W.Va. 657, 461 S.E.2d 163 (1995). Moreover, a criminal defendant takes on a difficult burden when seeking to prove such a claim: A criminal defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction takes on a heavy burden. An appellate court must review all the evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, in the light most favorable to the prosecution and must credit all inferences and credibility assessments that the jury might have drawn in favor of the prosecution. The evidence need not be inconsistent with every conclusion save that of guilt so long as the jury can find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Credibility determinations are for a jury and not an appellate court. Finally, a jury verdict should be set aside only when the record contains no evidence, regardless of how it is weighed, from which the jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To the extent that our prior cases are inconsistent, they are expressly overruled. Id. at 663, 461 S.E.2d at 169, syl. pt. 3. As discussed herein, our review of the appendix record leads us to conclude there was sufficient evidence to support these convictions. Insinuating that Mr. Truax’s identification of him as the shooter was incorrect, the petitioner cites to three portions of Mr. Truax’s report to police and 911. First, Mr. Truax told police that the shooter wore blue jeans and a black hoodie, but the petitioner was 11 arrested wearing insulated coveralls over a dark t-shirt. Because the petitioner was arrested some seven hours after the crimes, leaving time for him to remove the hoodie and put on the coveralls, this attempt to suggest an improper identification fails. Moreover, the petitioner admitted to police that he was at the victims’ home and had fired his rifle, and Mr. Truax was extremely familiar with the petitioner’s appearance based upon their family relationship and the petitioner’s former residence in the Truax home. Second, the petitioner points out that Mr. Truax mistakenly reported to 911 that both his wife and his son had been shot. His teenaged son, Nicholas, arrived safely home from school a few minutes later, while Mr. Truax was still talking to the 911 operator. We fail to see how this mistake assists the petitioner’s argument in any way. The inclusion of Nicholas in the report is easily explained by the fact that Mr. Truax was anxious about his family’s safety, and his son was due home momentarily. Third, the petitioner argues that Mr. Truax reported more than two shots being fired, but only two empty shell cartridge casings were found in the victims’ yard. This argument is unpersuasive because other evidence proves that at least three shots were fired. Mrs. Truax had two separate wounds in her body, and Mr. Truax suffered a wound to the wrist. Moreover, when the police recovered the petitioner’s rifle, there was a fired cartridge casing still inside. 12 As additional grounds for challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, the petitioner argues that there was no gunshot residue found on his face and hands. However, the petitioner was walking outside in the rain and, as the State’s expert forensic analyst explained, gunshot residue washes away. He also complains that the State failed to provide any analyses of his laptop computer and cellular telephone, and failed to take footprint impressions or photographs of footprints at the scene of the crimes. The petitioner does not explain how these investigatory steps would have impacted the case. Next, the petitioner asserts that the State did not prove his rifle was the murder weapon and made “no effort to determine whether the shell casings found near” Mrs. Truax’s body were fired from his rifle. These contentions are belied by the record evidence. There were multiple indications that the petitioner’s rifle was the weapon used in these crimes. Fired cartridge casings found in the Truaxes’ yard are of the same caliber used by the petitioner’s rifle, and the rifle’s appearance matches the description given by Mr. Truax. The petitioner even led police to where he had dropped his rifle near the victims’ home. Additionally, a State Police Lab firearms expert determined that a bullet taken from Mrs. Truax’s body was in the .24 caliber family, which includes .243 Winchester, the type of ammunition used by the petitioner’s rifle. Because exposure to moisture had caused rust to develop inside the rifle’s chamber, the expert was unable to conclusively determine that the bullet removed from Mrs. Truax’s body was fired from the rifle. However, the expert found 13 several characteristics in common between the marks left on that bullet and on a bullet she test-fired from the petitioner’s rifle. Finally, the petitioner admitted to police that he had discharged his rifle at the Truaxes, although he claimed it was in self-defense. Lastly, the petitioner contends that the State did not explain a twenty-seven minute gap in the audio recording of his statement to police. Two police officers testified that, for unknown reasons, the digital recorder had simply stopped recording. This issue pertains to the credibility of the petitioner’s statement. The jury was made aware of the missing twenty-seven minutes and could attribute whatever weight it deemed appropriate to the petitioner’s admissions.6 The petitioner’s pre-dawn visit to the area four days before the shooting, the purchase of the rifle, and his presence in the area of the Truax home while armed with a loaded rifle, show premeditation and deliberation. His admitted anger with his aunt and uncle suggests a motive. Furthermore, he was positively identified by Mr. Truax, he admitted being in the yard and shooting his rifle at the Truaxes, and he led police to where he disposed of the rifle. Accordingly, there was no error in the circuit court’s denial of the motion for judgment of acquittal. 6 Although the petitioner moved the circuit court to suppress his entire statement, he does not raise any assignment of error on appeal regarding its admissibility. 14